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County staff roll out priority‑based budgeting tool; 911 scoring and mandate definitions flagged for review
Summary
County finance staff presented an initial priority‑based budgeting dataset covering 187 programs. The presentation flagged scoring anomalies (including 911 ranked as high cost/low impact in early scoring), noted the need for narrative context for mandates, and said departments will supply additional qualitative data ahead of budget workshops.
County finance staff presented the first look at a priority‑based budgeting dataset for Dunn County, covering 187 programs and designed to reframe the budget from line items to program costs and impacts.
Finance staff said departments scored programs by cost, impact and mandate status but that initial results produced surprising anomalies — notably the 911 program scored as a high‑cost, low‑impact nonmandated item in the first run. Staff said the scoring inputs did not capture qualitative aspects — for example, how relatively few direct contacts in criminal justice nevertheless affect countywide safety — so they asked department heads to supply additional narrative context to explain mandate strength, revenue sources, population served and program impact.
The county plans to deliver the full dataset and related narratives at the budget workshop and to identify programs for deeper review. Staff acknowledged the work is iterative: scoring requires both quantitative and qualitative inputs to reflect mandates that fall along a statutory spectrum and to avoid misleading prioritization when metrics alone do not capture public‑safety or statutory obligations.
Committee members were shown a worksheet with cost summaries, revenue explanations and columns intended to document whether services are statutory mandates, how many people are served and program outcomes. Finance staff said the intent is to provide the county board with a clearer set of program priorities to inform budget decisions; staff asked supervisors to identify where they want more detail ahead of the full county budget review.
