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Date of Award

Spring 1977

Rights

Access perpetually restricted to EWU users with an active EWU NetID

Document Type

Thesis: EWU Only

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Department

Master of Public Administration

Abstract

"This thesis develops the argument that incremental budgeting in small municipalities is inevitable. A number of factors that affect the substance of public policy decisions are seen to cause this result. Constraints on making city government-initiated and controlled budgetary changes are so numerous and collectively strong that policy desires and decisions affecting significant budget changes cannot be enacted. The number of constraints on a small municipality's ability to initiate and control non-incremental budget changes is hypothesized to be ten; five are fiscal constraints and five are non-fiscal constraints. The thesis further contends that the hypothesis is valid not withstanding consideration of two matters generally thought to have major effects on budget decisions. Incremental budget is hypothesized to result regardless of the type of budgetary process employed, or the type of political culture(s) currently dominant, in a small municipality. Testing the hypothesis is a two-step process. First, evidence is sought to show how important a role each of the ten constraints plays in a small municipality. The evidence is found through a case study approach in three small Washington communities, and by review of the related literature. The empirical evidence gathered from the case studies is com- pared to the theories and evidence contained in the relevant literature. A determination is then made, on the basis of all the findings, as to how important a role each constraint actually plays. Four of the ten constraints are classified as ongoing major constraints: (1) limited control over revenue amounts; (2) inability of council to reach agreement except through incremental decision-making; (3) lack of council expertise in budget matters; and (4) limited council review and analysis time. Two other constraints are found to have a very high potential to be major constraints in any given budget-making period. These are: (1) lack of control over general economic conditions; and (2) federal and state grant influence over budget allocations. The remaining four constraints are identified as either being potentially major under unique circumstances, or only minor constraints. The next step in validating the hypothesis is to show, through analysis of the three cities' budget data, whether or not any non-incremental budget changes did occur during the periods studied. If they did occur, then the question becomes whether or not the municipality involved initiated and controlled the changes. A very limited number of non-incremental, city initiated and controlled, budget changes are discovered. While redistributive budgeting is found to be possible in rare circumstances, the research done for the thesis tends to show that in small municipalities incremental budgeting is highly probable, even if not "inevitable.

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