Kansas City, Missouri – Adopting Priority-Based Budgeting, a method that assesses the impact and need of every local program and service, Kansas City has started a creative approach to its budgeting process. Emphasizing direct community involvement, this new approach seeks to guarantee that municipal spending fits the needs and ideals of its citizens.
“Public engagement and feedback on the proposed budget are vital components of our budgeting process. We want to ensure that the priorities that we have outlined in the Citywide Business Plan continue to be the priorities of residents, businesses and the City,” said 6th District-at-large Councilmember Andrea Bough, Chair of the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee, in a news release.
Priority-Based Budgeting examines every expenditure according on its current value to the the community, unlike conventional budgeting, which sometimes rolls over the allocations from the past without review. This strategy is meant to direct money into public safety, infrastructure upgrades, and important community projects—that which most urgently represent the requirements of the community.
“Priority-based budgeting allows us to move away from simply carrying over expenses from one year to the next and instead budget more responsively, directing resources and dollars to areas important to Kansas City. Public engagement and feedback on the proposed budget are necessary to know the needs of people in our city,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas.
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The city’s budgeting process in previous years often carried over expenses automatically, usually without regard to whether the expenditures were still aligned with changing objectives. City Manager Brian Platt says that the acceptance of Priority-Based Budgeting marks a major change towards a more dynamic and responsive fiscal strategy, which will “ensure the city is investing in what matters most to Kansas City residents, making city officials more efficient, accountable, and focused on delivering the best services for the local community.”
Kansas City has set public budget sessions where citizens may express their ideas and obtain additional information about the suggested adjustments in order to support this new approach. The scheduled meetings are set for:
- Saturday, February 15, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Gregg/Klice Community Center,
- Monday, February 24, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Woodneath Library Center Auditorium,
- Saturday, March 1, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Goppert Performing Arts Center at Avila University.
Residents unable to attend in person can provide feedback through the City’s Speak Easy forum online. The suggested budget will be submitted to the Kansas City Council on February 6, 2025; it will be accessible for public review online soon after.
The city has also promised to assist public attendees who don’t speak English. At the February 15 and March 1 sessions, Kansas City’s Office of Language Access will supply interpreters for ASL, Spanish, Swahili, and Chinese. Those requiring these services are advised to make sure availability is guaranteed by getting in touch with the Office of Language Access before the meetings.
