How Rural Local Governments Budget: The Alternatives to Executive Preparation.

This article presents information on the annual budgeting by local governments in the U.S. It explores how the budget process is carried out in small local governments. The authors in this article examines the practices of 12 rural governments-- eight municipalities and four counties-- located in two states, California and Illinois, as studied in field research conducted in 1981-82. The focus is on roles and tasks-- who does what in annual budgeting. The 12 small and rural local governments that comprises the research sample are evenly divided between the two states, with four cities and two counties apiece in California and Illinois. All are located in non-metropolitan areas. Without strong chief executives in these 12 rural local governments, the budgets presented to the city councils and county boards were each the work of several persons in various positions. In 11 of the 12 jurisdictions, budget preparation was largely in the hands of separately elected administrators. They were city clerks in most of the municipalities, the treasurer in one California municipality, auditors in both California counties, and the clerk in one Illinois county and the state's attorney in the other.