Management and running of a city is a challenging task considering that it requires a lot of balancing acts so as to ensure that all departmental needs are met without constraining the residents. Additionally, this becomes an uphill task since one has to make a lot of consultations with the community members, the council members, and other interested parties. The case study on Stoughton City budget presents the reader with such a scenario which requires a lot of negotiations, compromises, and discussions to come up with lasting solutions to a myriad of issues. The essay will highlight some of these challenges, options, and alternatives which may be put into consideration so as to ensure that this city runs within its means while striving to offer quality and affordable services to its citizens.
The city of Stoughton is apparently working under tight financial and fiscal policies which should be addressed explicitly if this city is to progress and offer its citizens the services required by its financial circumstances. This is so considering that the expenses of this city far much outweigh the revenue that is generated annually. The situation is made worse since the current city leadership has inherited an almost bankrupt city thanks to the misdeeds of Lance Norsworthy: the previous city mayor (Cropf et al., nd). Consequently, the current mayor Janice Miller has a hard task in convincing the council members and other stakeholders to support her ideas on various uncomfortable adjustments which are meant to make this city to be financially stable. This is basically because the revenue collection in this city has remained either at a flat rate or has been declining over time while the operating expenses have been increasing by up to 4 percent in the last five years. This has constrained the budget forcing the city to borrow more money and thus worsening an already critical financial situation.
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Potential Courses of Actions
The Stoughton City management is being faced with a lot of challenges which require precisely thought out options that can be applied to ensure that the city public services are up and running. The city has various public services to revamp or supply with equipment and staff key among them being the Police and Fire Departments, Park and Recreation Department, Public Works Department, Housing Department and the courts. It, therefore, means that the city's management teams need to look into then requirements of each department in order to undertake a balancing act (Sawyer, 2010). Consequently, various options have been laid down by the city mayor whom the council members are supposed to support and discuss so as to pick the better choice. The Police Department and the Public Works Department require additional vehicles (Cropf et al., nd).
To deal with the budget deficits, the council members have outlined various alternatives. The Public Works Department could instead enter into an agreement with other municipalities who would loan them those trucks and equipment. On the issue of additional vehicles for the Police Department, there is an agreement that the police should be supplied with these vehicles so as to bolster the community's confidence (Cropf et al., nd). On the other hand, acquiring of all those vehicles would be an expensive affair considering that the budget is constrained as it is.
The other issue of contention is about the future of the Fire Department with Tom Richardson and Pete Smith advocating for a merger with a nearby community considering that the fire department is too small to meet the needs of the city’s population. On the other hand, Sheila McCullough and Elizabeth Banning are of a different opinion since according to McCullough merging it will remove the mayor from decision making while Banning feels that the merger will put two officers out of work (Cropf et al., nd). The other issue of contention con budgetary allocation is on contracting out of the city services so as to fill the budget loopholes. John Sellers, the city manager, therefore, proposed contracting out Public Works and Park and Recreation Department to other communities to save on operating costs.
The best Alternative in this scenario
It is true that Stoughton city budget has a lot of deficits considering that the expenses will continue rising as per the budget projections as compared to the uncertainty concerning the increase in revenue. This then requires the council members to pick up the best alternative which will cushion the city and its citizens against future financial and economic shocks. Having looked at the options laid out on the table and the pros and cons of each alternative it is clear that contracting out services would work for the time being until the city gets back to its feet later on. Contracting out of Public Works, Park and Recreation and Fire Department to adjoining communities and municipality would save this city a lot of money which could have gone into the expansion, revamping and acquiring of equipment for these departments (Diamond & Zodrow, 2014). These funds which could have been spent could be useful in reducing operating expenses as well as well as split the capital costs which is used on large items (Kreech, 2013). Additionally, such a move will ensure that the city has some cash reserve which would be necessary in the case of future financial emergencies.
In conclusion, it is clear that the city of Stoughton is being faced with a lot of financial crisis as reflected in the budget deficit. This means that the council members have to come up with solutions that are tailored to fit within this budget deficiency. This can be through the consideration of the fact that various departments in this city have a myriad of needs which are meant to improve the well-being of this city's population. Consequently, the council members have to weigh out the options that are available and only pick alternatives that can stand the test of a tie. When this is done, it will make sure that the population receives quality and affordable services without further constraining the city's financial reserves.
References
Cropf, R. A, Giancola, J. M & Roberson, A. (n.d). The Stoughton City Budget.
Diamond, J. W & Zodrow, G. R. (2014). Pathways to Fiscal Reform in the United States . London: Mitt Press.
Keetch, C.C. (2013). Trends in the Contracting out of Local Government Services . Graduate Theses and Dissertations . Retrieved from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4705.
Sawyer, M. (2010). Progressive approaches to budget deficits . Journal of Economic Literature classification: E62 . Retrieved from https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/v_2010_10_25_sawyer.pdf.
