Save Award 2010 Ideas

a multi year budget process. The yearly budget process is often just that...a year long effort. The manpower expendature for budget development and justification on annually could be significantly reduced by having a three year budget. The annual effort for budget development and justification involves all hands across the organization to some extent. At least for research and development offices, where the investement... more »

I suggest we use continuous rolling budgets versus doing the budgeting (and programming) drill every year. This paradigm is explained in detail at www.beyondbudgeting.org and would save us money on multiple fronts. We wouldn't need the complete bottoms up painful annual budget drill and people wouldn't feel compelled to "use it or lose it" or attempt to sandbag and inflate thier numbers.

I recommend that the budget process be revised to include an incentive for end of year return of unspent funds to the Treasury. The current process discourages the lapsing of funds as managerial incompetence in planning overtime expenditures. In reality, in our environment, volcanos, inclement weather, unrest, etc play a determining role in overtime expenses incurred.

I recommend that the open skies policy be reassessed in light of budget constraints. International airports with low passsenger volume (i.e., one flight per day) require inordinant resources per passenger when compared to busier airports. This allocation of resources is a drain on busier airports and results in personnel actually working a total of 1-2 hours in exchange for 8 hrs pay. In addition, remote locations... more »

As it stands now, each agency is penalized if it does not spend its budget in two ways: (1) it loses what's left in the budget and (2) will very likely receive a smaller budget the following year. As a result, each agency has a strong incentive to spend every dollar. Offer agencies incentives to save money such as no loss of budget savings, etc. (an economist could come up with better ones than I).

Each agency is required to prepare and issue a policy on budget formulation in conformance with OMB Circular A-11. However, there is a statutory requirement that no agency can issue its policy until a very busy office within OMB approves the policy. This generally involves a waiting period many months or even a year or two long. What if the OMB approval were replaced with the requirement that the policy state that... more »

I suggest the government change the way the budget is managed for the military. The way the process is set up now, as the fiscal year comes to a close, the military tries to spend all of their money to ensure that they receive close to the same amount every year. This promotes a culture of wasteful spending, instead of promoting a saving environment.

Instead of giving them the same amount of money each year (minus budget... more »

Allow programs to save money. Every year congress passes the budget about four months late, leaving programs to operate on a Continuing Resolution for the first part of every year. Once the budget is passed, it's another couple of months before anyone sees any money. Because most money must be spent by the end of the fiscal year, programs end up in a mad frenzy to spend what they receive in the spring before the end of... more »

Congress should pass and the president sign the budget for all agencies by the time the fiscal year begins. Usually this does not occur for most agencies until several months into the budget year. Opportunities and resources are wasted during this period of financial limbo. Managers waste time preparing contingency plans and dealing with the special problems under continuing resolutions. Procurements and commitments to... more »

I have been in or working for the Federal Government for over 29 years. I keep hearing how the Federal Government is going to balance the budget. I still have never seen it.

My share is: We will never balance the budget much less pay off the debit as long as the government budget process runs on a "USE or LOSE" mentality. If I receive money from congress and I don't spend it all, then I am penalized the next year... more »

Do away with the use it or lose it budget practices. So much waste occurs at every level when groups purchase unecessary equipment & services for fear that if they don't use all their budget this year they won't be able to request the same or more the following years. How about something like a 401K where if the group comes in 5% under their budget for the year they earn a match that gets banked so when the money for... more »

Every year, as the end of the fiscal year approaches, there is a mad rush to spend remaining funds so "we don't get less next year." This is not smart. Rather, promise no reductions and, in fact, give awards for monies returned to the Treasury.

Government employees learn early to spend the full budget in order to justify asking for more the following years. Instead we should submit the yearly planning budget, have it properly reviewed, and if goals are achieved under budget we could receive a fractional bonus of the funds. A record of success under budget would then justify receiving more and more funds to manage.

The annual budget cycle imposes tremendous costs: months each of legislative negotiations, executive branch budget justifications and allocations, and end-of-year intensive work to spend every budgeted dollar. Funding decisions are made so late at the lowest level that it is almost too late to initiate full and open procurement. The procurement staffs are consistently understaffed across the federal government, so procurement... more »

Our agency spends a lot of time and money by continually justifying our approved budget while waiting for the appropriated funds to be released to us to use to do our job of supporting the agency's mission. In additon, we spend months in a holding pattern not being able to do our jobs because the approved budget money isn't released until the second or third quarter. Then we are in a panic to do a year's worth of work... more »