Key Players

Texas municipal governments operate an annual budget each fiscal year. According to a city’s fiscal calendar, key players in the budget making process begin deliberating future budget priorities as soon as the new budget is adopted.

Key players in city governments depend on the structure of management a city utilizes. Three types of city governance are generally used in Texas cities: mayor-council, city commission, and council-manager. The budget process generally follows similar courses of action – forecasting/communication, deliberating/drafting, and adoption/oversight – though the decision making authority on the budget process differs depending on the organization of a city’s government.

Cities often provide citizen surveys for the public to fill out in order to evaluate the satisfaction of city services and to use as a part of the budget planning process. A city department dedicated to budget and finance generally acts as another key player in a city’s budget preparation.

City Snapshot- Austin, TX

Based on the organization of Austin’s city government, key players in the budget process include the City Manager, the Budget Office, the City Council, and Public Stakeholders as shown below.

City of Austin Budget Calendar 2009-10

Source: City of Austin, 2009-2010 Approved Budget Executive Summary

General Overview of the City Budget Process

Editors Note: Chart depicts a broad view of municipal budget process, not specific to any city