Ulster comptroller says county should take multi-year approach to financial management
KINGSTON – The way the Ulster County budget is formulated is based on a one year financial plan and County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach said it should be based on “a longer-term context.”
The budget process needs to be modernized, he said, and with that in mind, he commissioned a report, “A Better Budget for Ulster County." The document was prepared by the SUNY New Paltz Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach.
The current budget format is “traditional,” and that doesn’t cut it anymore, said Auerbach.
“In today’s world with money being the way it is and mandates being the way they are, the single year line item budget does just not do the job that we would want it to do financially,” he said Monday.
The report illustrates the value of using the budget document and process not only to forecast the financial future, but also as a policy document, operations and management tool, and a communications device, said Auerbach.
(Copyright © 2010 Mid-Hudson News Network, a division of Statewide News Network, Inc)
1 comment:
Asking Republicans to think long term? Isn't that asking a little too much? If they were capable of such a task, the entire country wouldn't be in such dire financial straits. Better just be happy with getting through the here and now. "One day at a time" pretty much sums up the Republican party. Any thinking beyond that would better be kept to those who can grasp tomorrow.
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