Governmental Finance
Information for Public
Officials and Leaders
Susan Luce
Capstone Project Presentation
June 14, 2014
Advisor: Dr. Matt Jones
Agenda

Research Question

Research Methods

Findings

Conclusions

Implications & Next Steps

Leadership Reflection

Acknowledgements
Research Question

Elected and appointed public officials enter public service
with varying backgrounds, and must be held accountable
for the decisions they make about how to utilize the
public resources they have available, including choices
about different sources of funds or how to allocate limited
resources.

How much financial information do our elected officials
and senior management need to know in order to make
necessary budgetary and other fiscal decisions?

What depth of understanding is needed of this information
– basic, operational, or expert?
Literature Review


Financial Education Tools and Resources

Handbooks & Guides

Online Resources

Publications

Instructional Programs
Information Used for Decision-Making

Budgeting decisions – economic & financial data vs political factors

Comparative information for other jurisdictions

Capital projects

Communication of financial information
Research Methods
Survey, distributed to membership of the Oregon Municipal Finance Officers
Association (OMFOA) and Emerging Local Government Leaders
 Four questions:
1. What is the importance of these topics for officials to understand
within 1-3 months?
2. What is the importance of these topics for officials to understand
within 3-6 months?
3. What is the importance of these topics for officials to understand
within 6-12 months?
4. What depth of understanding of these topics is necessary within 12
months?
 Likert Scale for Questions 1 – 3: 1 – 5, 1 = Not Necessary to Understand
Topic, 5 = Must Understand Topic
 Likert Scale for Question 4: 0 = Not applicable, 1 = Basic Understanding
Only, 2 = Intermediate/Operational Understanding, 3 = Advanced/Expert
Understanding

Survey Topics

30 Topics in 6 Subject Areas

Accounting

Budgeting

Reporting

Internal Controls

Auditing

Other
Findings – Overall Analysis, Importance
of Topics
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Accounting
Budgeting
Reporting
Internal Controls
1-3 months
Auditing
3-6 months
Other
6-12 months
Findings – Overall Analysis, Depth of
Understanding
2
1.95
1.9
1.85
1.8
1.75
1.7
1.65
1.6
1.55
Accounting
Budgeting
Reporting
Internal Controls
Auditing
Other
Depth of Understanding
Findings – Overall Analysis

Highest Scoring Individual Topics
Importance, 6-12
Months (1-5)
Depth of
Understanding (1-3)
• Accounting:
Constraints on
Resources
• 4.69
• 2.45
• Internal Controls:
Responsibilities of
Management/
Executives
• 4.58
• 2.47
• Budgeting: Budget
Process
• 4.56
• 2.35
Topic
Findings – Other Analysis

By Type of Organization

By Size of Organization

By Type of Position
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Accounting
Budgeting
Reporting
Elected/Senior Executive
Internal Controls
Management (Financial)
Auditing
Staff (Financial)
Other
Other
Conclusions


Across all dimensions of the analysis, two topics ranked consistently high

Accounting: Constraints on Resources

Internal Controls: Responsibilities of Management/Executives
Public finance managers share the responsibility for facilitating this
education
In this era of austerity and increased accountability,
decision-makers must own their choices more than ever.
Whether government officials like it or not, the public
tolerance for unawareness has been whittled down to an
unforgiving nub. ~ Liz Farmer, 2014
Implications & Next Steps

Continue research to identify best methods of teaching
technical subjects (like finance and accounting) to
individuals without a technical background

Determine effectiveness of generic versus organizationspecific learning materials

Develop materials!
Leadership Reflections


The Leadership Challenge
 Inspire
a Shared Vision
 Enable
Others to Act
Strengths Based Leadership
 More
about strengths of the group than just individual
strengths

Lead from where you sit!
Acknowledgements

Multnomah County Finance & Risk Management Division
Leadership

Cohort Awesome!

Friends & Family

OMFOA & ELGL membership

All EMPA Faculty, Mentors, and Staff

Capstone Advisor, Dr. Jones
Questions?