CHAPTER 22 (FIN MAN); CHAPTER 8 (MAN) Budgeting
TIF 22–3 (FIN MAN); TIF 8–3 (MAN)
Memo
To: Stacy Poindexter
From: Ima Student
Re: Evaluating City of Milton Budget
After reviewing the city of Milton’s budget data, it appears that considerable goal conflict
exists within departments, resulting in department managers making poor budgeting and
spending decisions. The amount of actual expenditures was less than budgeted for the
first 10 months of the budget year. As the budget year-end approached, department
managers appear to have spent the remaining excess budget, going over budget in May
There are a number of techniques that the city could undertake to more effectively
budget and align departmental behavior with the city’s goals. First, departments could
adopt flexible budgets, which allow for monthly budgets to change with underlying
activity. For example, if the number of prisoners in the jail increased, then the budget
would increase proportionately. Department managers with a flexible budget would be
less likely to “reserve” a large portion of the budget during the year because an activity
change would automatically be reflected in the monthly budget. This reduces the