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It’s municipal budget season
Budgeting season is here, and the conversations happening now will shape the decisions and priorities for your municipality’s upcoming fiscal year. But is your organization prepared to make the most of its resources and opportunities? Join us for the 2025 Budgeting Webinar to gain insights and strategies.
Expert strategies for effective budgeting
In December, WithersRavenel’s North Carolina Funding Team Leader, Megan Powell, and Client Experience Officer, Alison Alexander, shared expert strategies for effective budgeting. This occurred during the webinar Strategic Insights and Best Practices for 2025 Budgeting, hosted by Brightly.
Powell, who also serves as President of the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association (NCLGBA), stressed that budgeting is a continuous, year-round process—not just a one-time event. Staying organized with key dates, deadlines, and detailed records can significantly influence your municipality’s budgeting discussions.
“Have your data to back up your why,” Megan emphasized. “If you’re in local government and aren’t busy, you probably need to evaluate staff capacity. But why are you busy? Having that data to back it up is important to tell in your story. Because what is a budget in the sense of things? You’re planning and you’re telling a story with numbers. This can be tracked by a spreadsheet, lifecycle model, or other software that can help you with that.”
Alison, drawing on nearly two decades of experience in city and county management across the Carolinas, highlighted another challenge. It concerns turnover and transitions in leadership.
“The challenges really come when you get newly elected officials into office and they’re going through their first or second budget cycle where they don’t have that institutional knowledge of how that organization or service arrived at its priorities,” Alison said.
Strategies for optimizing your budget
During the webinar, Powell and Alexander offered actionable strategies to overcome such challenges and optimize budgeting efforts. Their key recommendations included:
- Setting Clear Priorities
- Identifying Funding Opportunities
- Addressing Data and Knowledge Gaps
Their practical insights and guidance provided local government leaders with the tools to approach the budgeting process strategically and confidently.
If you missed the webinar, it’s available to watch online. To learn more about local government budgeting and how to prepare for the upcoming fiscal year, contact Megan Powell at mpowell@withersravenel.com.