"Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value."
— President Joe Biden
This quote is more than a rhetorical flourish. It’s a reminder that budgets are where ideals meet reality. They’re not just about dollars, they’re about priorities, trade-offs, and the lived values of a community.
In the public sector, budgets are moral documents. They reveal what a city, county, or district truly believes in - what gets protected, what gets sacrificed, and who benefits. And perhaps most importantly, they show whose voices are being heard in that process.
Every local government has mission statements and strategic plans. But the budget is where those ambitions are tested. You might say your community values affordable housing, but if funding hasn’t changed in years, what does that suggest? You might claim to prioritize public health, but what’s the percentage of general fund spending that goes there?
Budgets tell the truth. They hold up a mirror - sometimes uncomfortably.
Most residents won’t read a full budget document. It’s not a matter of apathy; it’s a matter of access. Budgets are often technical, dense, and hard to navigate. This opacity can feed mistrust, especially when people feel the outcomes don’t reflect their needs.
What residents can see are outcomes: the potholes not fixed, the parks not maintained, the waitlist for housing assistance. When those experiences don’t match a government’s stated values, skepticism follows.
In recent years, more local governments have adopted participatory practices - not just to check a box, but because they recognize that budgeting is a powerful tool for public trust. By inviting residents to engage in the budgeting process, governments are saying: “We want your values to shape our choices.”
That engagement has to be more than symbolic. It has to be interactive, data-informed, and built on shared understanding.
This is where tools like Polco’s Budget Simulation, Taxpayer Receipt, and Prioritize come into play. They aren’t just digital gadgets, they are platforms for values expression.
Together, these tools help close the gap between what governments say they value and what they fund - and just as importantly, they make sure residents see themselves in that process.
We often think of accountability in terms of outcomes: Did a project succeed? Were dollars spent responsibly?
Accountability also means aligning intent with investment. Are we funding what we claim to care about? Are we involving the community in those choices?
That’s what President Biden’s quote gets at. Not just political alignment, but ethical coherence. Not just budgets as balance sheets, but as blueprints for justice.
For local leaders, the challenge isn’t just to manage a budget—it’s to make it speak. To let it tell a story about what your community values, and to invite your residents to help write that story.
Because in the end, you don’t need a slogan to show what you believe in. You already have one. It’s called a budget.
👉 Explore Polco’s interactive budgeting tools >>
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