The County's performance based budgeting process includes four components.

1. Strategic Business Planning is the process where County organizations identify strategic objectives, the programs designed to achieve those objectives, and operational performance measures for each program. Franklin County agencies and offices participate in the strategic business planning process annually. Through this endeavor, four primary performance measures are identified for each program: demand, which identifies the need for program services; output which represents the amount of services provided; result, which represents the amount of output that reflects the impact or benefit received by the customer; and efficiency, which gauges the cost per program result. These measures provide the basis for developing a performance budget for each program.

2. Budget Requests for each program are submitted to the Office of Management and Budget. These requests identify the projected 2007 costs and performance for each program, and the resources needed to achieve 2008 performance targets. Each program budget request includes performance targets for demand, output, result, and efficiency. Almost all County organizations submitted Performance Based budget requests for 2008.

3. The County Administrator and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) develop Budget Recommendations for each program. Each program budget request is reviewed on a performance basis to ensure the budget requests reflect the most cost-effective use of resources to achieve performance targets. OMB staff meets with staff from other County organizations to discuss each budget, and then briefs the County Administrator on each program budget. In light of overall available County resources and priorities the County Administrator and OMB deliver a recommended budget to the Board of Commissioners.

4. Budget Adoption occurs on December 18 when the Board of County Commissioners votes on the 2008 Budget Resolution. This vote is preceded by a series of public budget hearings occurring in the month of November, during which, County agencies present each program budget to the Board of Commissioners. These hearings provide further opportunities for the Commissioners to review budget requests and recommendations, and also allows the public to provide input on the budget.