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Comparing the budgets of Cincinnati and Dallas

Shekima Jacob

South University

Introduction

Budget plays significant role in any sector of the economy. Budget is the quantitative expression of the financial plan in a particular period of time. This essay seeks to compare the budgets of two municipalities (Cincinnati and Dallas).

The website that will be used to discuss the budgets of the two cities are listed below:

· https://ballotpedia.org/Dallas,_Texas

· https://ballotpedia.org/Cincinnati,_Ohio

· https://ballotpedia.org/Analysis_of_spending_in_America%27s_largest_cities

Overview

Cincinnati is considered to be the city of Hamilton county, Ohio. By the year 2013, the population was 297517. The municipal government of Cincinnati mixes elements of council manager and strong mayor. Whereas mayor work as the CEO as well as the municipal council as the primary legal body, the municipal manager, whom the mayor chooses and the council supports, work as the municipal chief manager (Rose, 2015). On the other hand, Dallas is considered to be a municipal in Texas as well as the seat of Dallas County. This Municipal is the 9th biggest municipal in the USA and at the same time the 3rd municipal in the Texas municipal, behind San Antonio and Houston. Dallas is the biggest city in Dallas. As of the year 2013, the entire populace was 1.2 million (Hill, 2010).

Literature review

According to Svara (2003), the mayor is a powerful person in the municipal and plays a role for proposing the budget, authorizing it into law as well as hiring directors of department. The mayor chairs all the council meetings, suggests laws on budget to be discussed and has the authority to choose or remove heads of the committee, but he does not vote. Most he significantly the mayor represents the municipal on the state, at global and national levels. The current mayor is John Cranley. formatting

The city manager is considered to be the chief manage. He or she is selected by the mayor and is endorsed by the municipal council. Nelson & Stenberg (2015), states that the roles and responsibility comprise observing daily operations, doing legislative issues of the city and helping in planning as well as implementation of the budget of the municipal. The municipal council of Cincinnati is the lawmaking body. It adopts and approves the municipal budget, endorsing levying of taxes, mayoral selection, amending the policies as well as city laws. The membership of Cincinnati municipal council comprises 9 members. This municipal council stands alongside 8 standing committees that concentrate on individual policy.

According to Council, & Rawlings, (2016), the Dallas Municipal utilizes a council manager structure. In this type of city government an appointed municipal council which comprises the mayor as well as the municipal’s main legislative body. It selects chief managers known as municipal managers to observe daily functions as well as execute the council policy and lawful initiatives. Due to the fact of the large population, the use of council manager structure is exclusive. Nelson & Stenberg (2015) explains that most municipals in the USA with populace over 1 million use stronger mayor structure, in this case mayor himself works as the municipal CEO. Dallas came near to changing to strong mayor structure in the city elections of the year 2005, when the suggestion made direct entry into the vote that will have concurrently removed the office the municipal administrator at the same time dramatically improved the authority as well as power of the mayor. 62% of the voters from Dallas nevertheless criticized the proposal. As an outcome, the municipal retained its council manager structure.

The city administrator is the municipality's CEO. This is not a picked post. The municipal administrator is selected as well as accepted by the city council. Council, & Rawlings, (2016), asserts that the tasks of the municipal administrator comprise supervision the municipality's daily jobs, planning as well as executing the municipality's operational budget, and employing departmental executives as well as other senior-level positions. According to Hill (2010) the mayor is considered to be a member of municipal council. He or she chairs council meetings in addition to official municipal ceremonials. The mayor also exemplifies the municipality on the state, nationwide and global levels.

The Dallas Municipality Body is the municipality's key lawmaking body. It is responsible for adopting as well as approving the municipal budget, taxing duties as well as making or modifying city rules, plans and regulations. Hill (2010) explains that the city council comprises of 15 participants comprising the mayor. Whereas the mayor is voted at-large, the other fourteen participants are nominated by the municipality's fourteen districts. The Municipal of Dallas Council structures 9 standing committees that concentrate on specific policy and lawmaking subjects. Usually, the conscripting of municipality legislature begins with the committees. The Dallas city held ballot vote for mayor as well as city council last year. A surplus voting took place on June 13, 2015. All the current officials were up for the elections.

Demographic comparison

Demographic data for Cincinnati
Information	Data
Total population	297516
Land area (square miles)	78
Female	52%
Male	48%
White	49%
Asian	1.8%
African America	44.3%
Inborn American	0.3%
Pacific islander	0.1%
Two or more	Nil
Hispanic	2.8%
High school rate of graduates	84.5%
College rate of graduates	31.2%
Average household income	$34116
People below poverty level	34.1%

Demographic data for Dallas
Information	Data
Total population	1,257,676
Land area (square miles)	341
Female	50%
Male	50%
White	50.6%
Asian	2.5%
African America	25%
Inborn American	0.7%
Pacific islander	Nil
Two or more	2.7%
Hispanic	42.4%
High school rate of graduates	75%
College rate of graduates	29.5%
Average household income	$42847
People below poverty level	23.9%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2014)

Cincinnati Budget

The budget of Cincinnati forms biennial budgets that cover two years consecutively. Nevertheless, the state of Ohio necessitates the municipal to appropriate yearly fund. The municipal forms the biennial budget and then forms an updated budget for the subsequent year. Financial years start on first July and go on to June 30th the subsequent year. In the year 2015, Cincinnati accepted functioning fund budget for financial year 2015 which was $989 million. In the year 2014 to 2015 two-year-plans, the 2015 operational budget was anticipated to be about $1 billion. The operational budget is comprised of overall fund of $358.3 million as well as restricted funds of $ 630.8 million (Rose, 2015).

General fund- In the fiscal year 2014-2015 two-yearly plan, the overall fund was planned for $363.50 million. In the efficient 2015 budget, the total accumulated to $358.3 million. $218.8 million of the overall fund was budgeted for the fire departments as well as the police. After community protection, the health as well as public services divisions had the high budgets, with roughly $18.5 million each (Rose, 2015).

Restricted funds-In the year 2014-2015 two-yearly plan, controlled moneys were budgeted for $363.6 million. In the rationalized 2015 budget, the aggregate accumulated to $630.9 million. Some effects that are encompassed in restricted moneys are the Metropolitan Sewer District, Bond Departure, Parking Structures Facilities as well as Water Works (Rose, 2015).

Dallas Budget

The municipals budget procedure functions by financial years running from October 1st to September 30th of the following year. The subsequent process begins with opening profits projects which are separated into major focus areas as stated by the council. The teams of the budget then rate the services according to KFAs till cash of each of them is depleted. The municipal manager offers the ratings as initial rankings as a first budget to the city council, who participates in the public hearings to deal with the suggestions (Fund & Budget manual). The Municipality Administration as well as Office of Fiscal Services uses Municipal Board and public response to make changes on the budget. The Municipal Council approves the budget in month of September. The municipality is obligated by national law to maintain a well-adjusted budget.

The approved budget for financial year 2014-15 equals $2.8 billion. The approved budget for financial year 2013-14 equaled $2.8 billion. It encompassed public security, fiscal development, ecological managing, park preservation as well as educational improvements. Dallas' national lobbying linked expenditures amounted to roughly $280,000 (Fund & Budget manual). The subjects for which the municipal filed in 2015, and the figure of reports, can be perceived below.

Federal Lobbying Issues, 2013
Reports	Issues
8	Environment & Superfund
4	Urban Development

City	State	Comparison
City	State	Budget	Population	$ Per Citizen	Budget	Population	$ Per Citizen	City % of State	Which is Higher?
Cincinnati	OH	$358M	297,517	$1,203	$59,100M	11,572,005	$5,107	23.56%	Ohio
Dallas	TX	$2,800M	1,200,000	$2,333	$100,000M	26,505,637	$3,773	61.85%	Dallas

Summary

Looking at the budgeting comparison of the two entities, it can be noted that budgets are powerful tools for managing and controlling activities in any given organization, regardless of if it is a public, private, or a non-profit organization. They are the main drivers and evaluators of managerial performance. Criticisms towards traditional budgeting have recently increased due to relic aspect of the past. Thus, it cannot keep pace with the changes and the requirements of today’s activities or events. Therefore, an alternative budgeting process were developed, such as sales budgeting, overhead budgeting, cash budgeting, personnel budgeting, master budgeting among others. Thus, budgeting has evolved giving businesses and other service entities a chance to apply relevant budgeting practices that benefits their organization.

References

Council, D. C., & Rawlings, M. (2016). Dallas, Texas. Population, 1.

Fund, D. C. U. Budget manual: Policies and practices, admission requirements. Dallas, undated.

Hill, P. E. (2010). Dallas: The making of a modern city. University of Texas Press.

Nelson, K., & Stenberg, C. (2015). Governing Cincinnati: Considerations and Opportunities.

Rose, D. (2015). Case Study Application of Determining End of Asset Physical Life Using Survival Analysis Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Water Intelligence Online, 14, 9781780406770.

Svara, J. H. (2003). Effective mayoral leadership in council‐manager cities: Reassessing the facilitative model. National Civic Review, 92(2), 157-172.

This is much improved but could be better organized if you out the two cities together then do a lit review. The lit review is quite brief but all in all much better.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Included the background research of the entities, reported on their budgets, and compared the two selected entities.	35
Included the Web sites and periodicals to be used and indicated the research conducted from these sources.	40
Included the literature review as part of the final project paper, illustrating what other sources are researching relative to city or non-profit budgets.	30
Summary on the information collected that will be integrated into the analysis section of the final report in Week 5 using APA style.	35
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner utilizing APA format. Utilized appropriate type and number of scholarly sources for graduate level work. Demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources. Displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.	35
Total:	175