Chapter 1: Stop Campaigning and Begin Governing
- Don't be Hamstrung by Unrealistic or Uninformed Election Promises
- Keep on Top of Your Promises
- Brace Yourself for Information Overload
- Switch to Your Governing Mode
- Obtain Key Documents
- Build a Positive Relationship with Staff
- Lay the Groundwork for Your Proposals
- Don't be Afraid to Ask Questions
- Don't be Reluctant to Say "I Don't Know"
- Get on a Budget or Finance Committee
- Protect Your Meeting Time Like the Last Potato Chip
- Don't Rely on Osmosis to Learn About Public Finances
- Get Used to the Sunshine
- You Must be Accessible to the Public
- Establish a Continuous Self-Education Program
Chapter 2: Know Your Financial Oversight Responsibilities
- You Must Exercise Oversight
- Maintain Your Independence
- Public Finances Need Not be Boring
- Avoid Micro-Management as an On-going Practice
- Avoid Complacency Management
- Elected Official Oversight Means Holding Administrators Accountable
- Don't Accept Unrefined Data
- Exercise Your Financial Oversight Responsibilities
- Make the Mission Statement Your Own
- Develop the Governing Body's Goals
- If You Don't Set Your Agency's Goals, Staff Will
- Agree Upon the Level of Detail in Goals
- Update and Prioritize Your Goals
- Develop Financial Policies
- Review Your Agency's Financial Policies
- Oversight Means Evaluating Programs Beforehand
- Insist Upon Performance Evaluation Criteria for New Proposals
- Make Sure of the Follow-Up
- Hold Goal Setting Retreats
- Set Retreat Ground Rules
- Follow-up After Retreats
Chapter 3: How to Lessen Budget Anxiety
- Budgets are More than Control Documents
- Budgets are Plans of Action
- Budgets Need not be Complex
- Budgeting is Irrational
- Budgeting is also Rational
- You Have Little Control Over the Total Expenditure Program
- Determine What Type of Budget Your Agency Uses
- Don't Ignore the Capital Budget
- Focus on Significant Budget Issues
- Expect the Budget Message to Clarify the Big Picture
- Public Accounting is Different from Commercial Accounting
- Examine the Beginning and Ending Balances Table for the General Fund
- Find the Personnel-Related Statements
- Suggested Budget Questions
- Ask Hard Questions Before Approving a New Program
- Avoid Trivial Pursuit
- Hold Separate Hearings for Major Public Proposals
- Make Sure the Budget is Made Available to the Public
- Recognize the Limitations of the CPI
Chapter 4: Disastrous Fiscal Practices
- Know the Chief Administrator's Financial Skill Level
- Don't Let Program Success Blind You
- Fiscal Crises do not Develop Overnight
- Be Aware of the Financial Crisis Warning Signs
- Management Response to Warning Signs is Critical
- Debt Insurance is a Poor Bail-Out Method
- Look for Breakdowns in Management
- Avoid Financial Gimmickry and Cut Your Losses
- You've Got to Rein in the "Pleasers"
- Beware of Fiscal "Ambulance Chasers"
- You Cannot Borrow Your Way Out of a Fiscal Crisis
- Avoid Bankruptcy Filings
Chapter 5: When You Must Cut
- Identify the Inhibitors to Solving the Problem
- Determine why Cutbacks are Really Necessary
- Examine Revenue Estimates
- Rightsizing is Not Downsizing
- Develop a Cut Back Philosophy
- Identify Your Core Services
- Priority Rankings Require a Mature Approach
- Examine Management and Administration Costs
- Examine the Levels of Management
- Make Sure Cutback Strategies are Affordable
- Don't Cut Revenue Producing Programs
- Avoid the Other Common Cutback Mistakes
- Hang Tough on Budget Freezes
- Determine Who is Lobbying You and Why
- Create an Incentive for Departments to Cut Budgets
- Small Cuts are Important
- Establish Specific Parameters for Blue Ribbon Committees
Chapter 6: Sins, Omissions, and Poor Judgment
- Don't Let Squeaky Wheels Reset Your Priorities
- Don't Fight Citizen Requests for Information on Services
- Government Cannot Always Operate Like a Business
- Don't Flaunt Court Orders
- Avoid That Little Retirement Bump for Good Ol' Sam
- Get a Fiscal Impact Assessment for Benefit Packages
- Don't Let Vacation Liability Accumulate
- Check Overtime Usage
- Monitor Use of Agency Vehicles
- Oversee Off-Duty Use of Public Vehicles
- Monitor Credit Card Usage
- Don't Use Public Resources for Campaign Purposes
- Don't Frolic and Fraternize with Consultants
- Soliciting for Charity can also Present Conflicts
- Separate Contributions from Decisions
- Don't Use the Register of Warrants for Political Games
- Don't Get too Close to Employees
- Monitor Litigation Costs
- Assume That There Will be Leaks
Chapter 7: Where is the Money Hidden?
- Why Money is Hidden in the Budget
- Budget Padding is a Common Hiding Technique
- Budget Padding can be Minimized
- "Giveaways" in the Budget are Common
- Even Governing Bodies Resort to Hiding
- Don't Expect Hidden Money to be a Panacea
- Unmonitored Slush Funds Grow in the Dark
- Don't Plead Inability to Pay with Unions
- Unions are Adept at Finding Hidden Money
- How to Look for Hidden Money
- Examine General Fund Revenue
- Examine General Fund Expenditures
- Check Fund Balances First
- Favorite Resting Places for Surplus Monies
- Check for Increases in Expenditures
Chapter 8: What is an Adequate Fund Balance?
- Understand Fund Balance Definitions
- Find the Primary Fund Balance
- Find General Fund Reserve Policies
- Obtain a Historical Trend of Your Agency's Fund Balance
- Get the Entire Picture
- Things to Consider When Establishing the Reserve Level
- Check Reserve Policies of Other Funds
- Setting the Fund Balance Level
Chapter 9: Treasure Your Treasurer
- Treasury Oversight Deserves More Attention Today
- Assess Your Treasurer's Current Competence
- Train and Compensate Your Treasurer Adequately
- Elected Versus Appointed Treasurers
- Develop a Line of Succession
- Don't Press too Hard for Yield
- Be Cautious but Demand Performance
- Insist Upon an Adequate Cash Management Program
- Make Sure Safety is the Top Priority
- Let Independent Third Party Custodians Hold Your Securities
- Have an Independent Auditor Evaluate Internal Controls
- Follow-Up on Requested Evaluation Reports
- Make Sure Your Treasurer is not Enamored by Brokers
- Appreciate the Risk Involved in Leveraging
- Make Sure Your Investment Policy is Followed
- Require Market Value Reporting for all Securities
- Nurture an Effective Investment Committee
- Make Sure Investment Reports are Timely and Adequate
- Monitor the Yield on Investments
- Make Sure the Portfolio is Diversified
- Know Your Investment Pool's Policies
- Thoroughly Examine an Investment Pool Before Joining
- Don't Let the Treasurer Buy if it Can;t be Explained to You
Chapter 10: Performance Measurement: What's the Fear?
- Performance Measurement is not New
- Don't Settle for the Numbers Game
- Have Staff Develop Outcome-Oriented Objectives
- Be Ready to Focus on Results
- Performance Measurement Works with Contract Services
- Performance Measurement Will Improve
- Make Sure Your System is Working
- Use Objectives to Evaluate and Manage, not Punish
- Don't Settle for Vague Measures
- Reinforce Well-Stated Objectives
- Bring the Public Along
- You Must Review Performance Results
- Look for Unintended Consequences
- Limit the Number of Objectives
- Modify Objectives When the Situation Changes
- Use Customer Surveys
- Encourage the Use of Benchmarking
- Insist Upon Periodic Audits of Performance Measures
Chapter 11: Where Do We Get the Money?
- Grants can Undermine Fiscal Discipline
- Don't Blame the Feds
- Avoid the Grant Pitfalls
- When to Apply for a Grant
- When Refusing a Grant, Tell Them Why
- The Property Tax is Still the Most Despised Tax
- Determine the Full Cost of a New or Increased Tax
- Avoid the Static Analysis Pitfall
- Don't Bank on "Sin" Taxes
- Don't Promise Tax Cuts Unless You Are Committed
- Don't Overreact to Tax Limitation Measures
- Examine Self-Sufficiency Claims
- Make Departments Responsible for Revenues
- Watch the Growth in Public Debt
- Don't Raid Enterprise Funds Without Documentation
- As a Rule Staff Will Underestimate Revenues
- Don't be Pack Rats -- Dump Excess Property
Chapter 12: Sewers and Classrooms Don't Vote ... Right Away
- Devote Money to Repair and Maintenance
- Be Aware of Deferred Maintenance Decisions
- Deferred Maintenance Costs More
- Budget Operating Expenses for Capital Projects
- Question Before You Cut Capital Expenditures
- Make Sure Proper Security Measures are Implemented
- Make Sure Bond Promises are Kept
- You Must Level with the Public
- Line-up Support for Capital Improvement Programs
- Be Especially Cautious Before and After a Bond Issue Election
- Consider Using an Oversight Panel for Capital Projects
Chapter 13: Support Your Local Auditor
- Be Aware of the Different Types of Audits
- There are External and Internal Auditors
- Auditors Must be Independent
- Clarify the Role of the Auditor
- What Makes a Good Auditor?
- Auditor Red Flags
- The Four Types of Auditor Opinions
- An Unqualified Opinion Does not Mean Everything is in Order
- The Audit Report is not the Same Thing as the CAFR
- Your Agency may not Prepare a CAFR
- The Budget Does not tie into the CAFR
- Obtain Copies of Management Letters
- Use a Competitive Process to Obtain an Independent Auditor
- Make Sure Audit Firms are Technically Qualified to Perform Public Agency Audits
- Be Sure to Enter into a Written Agreement
- Auditors Should use Performance Measurement
- Consider Using an Audit Committee
Chapter 14: Public-Private Ventures are not for the Timid
- Keep the Electorate Informed
- Negotiate Hard and Don't Leave Anything on the Table
- Conduct a Detailed Risk Analysis for all Entrepreneurial Projects
- Question Projected Benefits and Costs for Entrepreneurial Ventures
- Obtain Unbiased, Independent Studies
- Add up all the Incentives
- Know When to Pull the Plug on Entrepreneurial Ventures
- Get Ready for a Gutter Fight if You Steal an Enterprise
- Don't Let Time Pressures Void Your Good Judgment
- Be Ready to Take Over an Enterprise if it Defaults on a Loan
- Don't Let the "Entrepreneurial Bug" Derail the Primary Mission
- Know the Market
- Start Asking the Important Questions Early
I have taken this program and I highly recommend it to all health-care providers - Orville R. Weyrich, Jr PhD NMD. For more information, see: The CSI Report and Video and Become a New Patient Magnet |