Author: Julie M. Brenman

The adoption of a budget is one of the most important activities undertaken by local government officials each year. The budget serves as the elected board’s primary opportunity to establish community priorities and as a tool for planning community services and programs, communicating priorities, and properly managing finances. The budget process, however, with its big numbers, multiple acronyms, and counterintuitive rules, can be confusing.

A book in the Local Government Board Builders series, this guide is intended to remove the mystery of the budget process and to equip North Carolina’s city and county governing bodies with the tools they need to actively participate in the process.

“I am impressed with this guidebook on budgeting. It answered several questions I had as a newly elected commissioner, and it is a great reference for explaining the process on how to reach a budget ordinance.”

Kitty Barnes
Chair
Catawba County Board of Commissioners

“This guidebook does a great job of providing context for local government budgeting. Each topic covered makes sense in the budget world, and the book will be helpful to those involved in local government budgeting.”

Scott Fogleman
Budget Director
Town of Cary