Essay On User Friendly Budgeting

Is the New Jersey requirement for local municipalities to create a User-Friendly Budget really going to increase citizen engagement in local government? Are more citizens going to be interested in local government or politics due to this new requirement by the division of local government services? The answer to this may not yet been known in the State of New Jersey, however, this literature review is going to review several different criteria’s that might answer these questions. First off, this review will examine the existing research into why there was need to create the User-Friendly Budget form based on the issues with the citizens being able to understand the entire budget document. Secondly, current research will be reviewed on how others …show more content…
Current belief is that we will see more citizens attending local government meetings and being more actively involved in the budgeting processes. This is due to idea that the User-Friendly Budgets will allow for citizens to better understand the under revenues and expenses of their local municipalities. Citizens will also have a better understanding of the debt service requirements and the pension liabilities, as they will be explained in an easy to understand format. In looking at the research that has been done on citizen engagement and the budget process many citizens do not have the ability to wrap their arms around the entire budget document. Many citizens when looking at local budget documents find them confusing and complicated to understand due to the complicated nature of local government budgeting requirements. Budgeting practices and budgeting requirements vary by state and there is no forcible way of directing citizens to participate in the budget