Patterns and trends in budget format innovation among local governments

This paper focuses on budget formats as innovations and reports results from a national survey of local budget practitioners about patterns and trends in the use of budget formats. An ongoing trend away from the line-item format, and towards hybrid and output-oriented formats, indicates a growing recognition of the need to address efficiency and effectiveness concerns within the budget decision-making process. The trend towards format innovation appears strongest among jurisdictions that are larger, have budget offices, use a CEO, and are in the West.