Senior Budget Analyst of Fort Collins, CO, Cody Forst chats with us about a typical municipal budget timeline and how crucial involvement from community members through online feedback and participatory budgeting aid in the process.

This is the second in a series of three articles to help you understand and interpret local budgets. ESAL sits down with Open Budget Oakland’s Felicia Betancourt and Jess Sand to discuss their efforts towards making municipal budgets accessible. Read about how Open Budget Oakland advances local government engagement by combining community and coding.

This is the first in a series of three articles to help you understand and interpret local budgets. Learn more about the fundamentals of the municipal budget such as how city governments spend funds to what goes into a typical budget development process.