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Solving the Resource Equation

Learn how we work together to connect government resources with your residents' highest priorities

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Create Program Data

Where Priority-Based Budgeting Begins

Create program data with OnlinePBB, the only software solution to transform your budget and align resources with community priorities.

Step 1: Have clearer budget discussions.

Conversations about police patrol and dispatch or tree services and pothole patching are more meaningful than general discussions about salary, benefits, commodities, and contractual service costs in police and public works departments.

Step 2: Know the true cost of each program.

Program costing creates a better understanding of the actual costs of a service and provides more meaningful comparisons for decision-makers. Allocating personnel, non-personnel, and revenue line items to identified programs brings the budget to life in a comprehensible and transparent way, illustrates the program's value, and shows what an organization offers to residents. 

Step 3: Prioritize services and demand accountability for results.

Priority-based budgeting evaluates the relative importance of individual programs—rather than entire departments—through the lens of each organization's strategic priorities such as community safety, robust infrastructure, growing economy, equity, climate, and more. This holistic approach provides decision makers with an informed, data-backed foundation for better-informed financial and budgeting decisions and ensures that communities can identify and preserve the most highly valued programs.

Result: Have the data you need to support a transparent decision-making process.

Priority-based budgeting invites participants in the budget process to evaluate the value of services and allocate resources accordingly. Stakeholders can see the value and cost of each project, and they understand resource allocation and alignment with the community's vision.

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PBB Blueprint

Learn how to free up funds in as little as 20 calendar days, reallocate resources, or generate new revenue.

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Capture Ideas for the Future

The Insight Process

Use priority-based budgeting to discover solutions and create opportunities.

The PBB BluePrint and program insight creation is a recurring process of data and context creation and implementation that is invaluable at any stage of the budget cycle. The insight process encourages innovative program ideas that help optimize current resources, attain new resources, and inform where resources could or should be allocated. With expanded organizational knowledge gained through insights to action, staff, leaders, and department experts are empowered to shape the future and drive change.

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Drive Action and Empower Change

Pursue Outcomes and Priorities

With OnlinePBB Budgeter, create budgetrequests at the program level.

PBB includes built-in cost and program data to serve as a complete decision-making package. Programs increase accessibility and communicability between organizational staff and elected officials tasked with understanding requests and making decisions.

Each programmatic budget request includes the nature of the program change and the resulting impact(s) of that change. The program budget request comes with financial and strategic alignment information.

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PBB Director

A Custom Solution

Achieve your PBB goals with the ResourceX PBB Director.

ResourceX offers customized implementation led by a dedicated PBB Director. The PBB Director becomes a member of your team to provide solutions tailored to your community's priorities. From data creation and analysis to decision-making and budget book design, ResourceX is your partner in PBB.

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FAQs

We're Here to Help

pie chart icon Priority-Based Budgeting (PBB)

Priority-driven budgeting is a process in which budgets are created based on the priorities of an organization. It identifies the most important goals and objectives of the organization and allocates resources accordingly.

At the highest level, priority-based budgeting is a model that supports making budgetary decisions and allocating funds based on community needs. The primary purpose of priority-based budgeting is to dissociate decision-making from account numbers and line items. Instead, PBB bases funding allocations on programs and services that meet specific needs.

Unlike traditional models, priority-based budgeting evaluates each program in various areas to determine its current alignment to the community’s priorities, and it provides a price tag for that program to demonstrate how funds are being used to support those priorities.

To align local government budgets with priorities, organizations need to engage in a collaborative process that involves all stakeholders. ResourceX's approach to priority-based budgeting is particularly effective in accomplishing this. ResourceX combines the transformational PBB methodology with a powerful and easy-to-use software platform enabling increased transparency and accountability of local governments. 

ResourceX produces data to identify and prioritize programs based on their impact and return on investment. Reduce wasteful spending, improve strategic resource allocation, and demonstrate data-driven funding decisions with PBB.

ResourceX's priority-based budgeting platform is a game-changer for local governments looking to optimize spending and fund programs that have a real impact on their communities. The PBB approach expresses the budget in terms of programs and provides a clear understanding of each program's true cost and revenue so leaders can make efficient and effective funding decisions.

The expected outcomes of priority-based budgeting include improved service delivery, increased accountability, and enhanced transparency.

Organizations working toward specific goals— such as climate action, increased equity, or fiscal sustainability—can utilize PBB to achieve their goals.

planning icon PBB Implementation

According to the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), the best time to implement priority-based budgeting is during the budget development process. This ensures that priorities are identified early in the budget preparation process and resources can be allocated accordingly.

Priority-based budgeting data is applicable throughout the year and isn’t limited to the budget creation process. PBB helps leaders make important decisions about the annual budget and also supports departments in making decisions throughout the year.

Implementation of priority-based budgeting should involve the following participants:

  • Finance and budget offices set the parameters for data creation to ensure the necessary information is gathered.
  • Organizational leadership provides the strategic purpose and priorities.
  • Sustainability, climate, and equity offices define the ways in which contributions to specific outcomes are measured.
  • Department leaders and staff provide invaluable insight into the operational needs and experiential validation to support program data.

Involving all departments in the organization ensures broad support and collaboration.

The time it takes to implement priority-based budgeting varies depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Implementation can take from 3-6 weeks. Annual budget and program data updates should be validated and approved prior to the next budget season.
market research icon PBB Data
Priority-based budgeting creates data about the organization's priorities and the resources allocated to them. This data can provide insights into where resources are being spent and how they can be better allocated to meet the organization's goals. PBB provides an explanation of the budget and resource allocation in a language that is relevant to residents and decision makers because programs are how they experience the budget.
The value of priority-based budgeting lies in creating a data-driven approach to resource allocation, which can lead to more informed decision-making, increased transparency and accountability, and improved communication with stakeholders.
data collection icon ResourceX Software
ResourceX is a cloud-based software that is accessible online. Software updates and enhancements are ongoing, and nothing is housed on your servers. This ensures easy access to PBB data from anywhere and provides seamless software enhancements throughout the year to provide all users the best possible ongoing experience.
ResourceX's priority-based budgeting software is compatible with your ERP system data. ResourceX downloads data from your ERP system and uploads that data directly into the ResourceX software. The ResourceX software solution is designed to work with existing systems, making implementation easier.

No, ResourceX's priority-based budgeting software is designed to complement existing ERP systems, not replace them.

Budget data can be imported into ResourceX's software via an Excel template. ResourceX Customer Success Managers import the budget data into the ResourceX system.
brain strategy icon PBB Methodology
Priority-based budgeting differs from performance budgeting and participatory budgeting in that it focuses on identifying and allocating resources to the organization's highest priorities rather than solely on performance metrics or community input.
Priority-based budgeting improves the budgeting process by providing a data-driven approach that ensures resources are allocated to the organization's highest priorities. This leads to more informed decision-making and increased transparency and accountability.
Priority-based budgeting improves community engagement by involving stakeholders in the prioritization process and ensuring that resources are allocated to meet the community's highest priorities. PBB increases resident understanding of the budget process and data, and it increases accountability by demonstrating program alignment and resource allocation to those programs. This can lead to increased community trust and understanding of the budget process.

Priority-based budgeting improves decision-making by providing a data-driven approach that ensures resources are allocated to the organization's highest priorities. This leads to more informed decision-making and increased transparency and accountability.

Priority-based budgeting creates data at the program level, not at the line-item level. This programmatic approach provides invaluable data points about the services residents count on, including:

  • Community reliance
  • Population served
  • Demand
  • Cost recovery
  • Level of mandate
  • Overall alignment to community goals

Priority-based budgeting makes organizations more efficient by ensuring that resources are allocated to the highest priorities, which can lead to improved outcomes and reduced waste.

The prioritization process involves identifying the organization's highest priorities and determining the resources needed to achieve them. The prioritization is typically determined by a combination of data analysis, stakeholder input, and organizational goals.
Priority-based budgeting helps organizations achieve goals by ensuring that resources are allocated to the highest priorities. This leads to improved outcomes and increased efficiency.
Priority-based budgeting improves resident communication and understanding of the budget decisions and process by presenting the budget in terms of programs, not line items.
goals icon PBB Success Metrics
Success metrics for priority-based budgeting include improved outcomes, better resource allocation, and greater stakeholder engagement. To measure the success of priority-based budgeting initiatives, organizations need to assess outcomes and evaluate progress.
teamwork icon Equity in PBB
To ensure equity in priority-based budgeting decisions, organizations should engage in a transparent and inclusive decision-making process.
bank icon The ResourceX Budget

ResourceX Budgeter is the ultimate solution for organizations looking to streamline the budgeting process. With this powerful program budgeting platform, local governments can say goodbye to making decisions based on incremental budgeting and embrace the benefits of program-based budgeting.

By accurately reflecting program costs and outcomes, Budgeter provides a clear overview of the budget, making it easier to manage resources. ResourceX designed its powerful program budgeting platform to optimize the local government budgeting process, providing a more accurate reflection of program costs and outcomes.

With ResourceX Budgeter, local governments can easily transition from line-item to program-based budgeting aligned with GFOA best practices. ResourceX provides local governments with the tools needed to streamline the budgeting process and make confident decisions about where to allocate taxpayers' resources.     

Ready to Transform Your Budgeting Process?

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