Executive Summary
Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is widely recognized as one of the tools that enables organizations, both public and private, to reset their expenses and spending actions to better align with their organizational objectives and strategic priorities. In the private sector, zero-based budgeting is particularly recommended for organizations with burgeoning administrative overhead, those that have seen rapid growth in expenses, and those that face expected changes in their revenue or business environment. Florida’s local governments fit into all of these categories, and so the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, along with Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, have encouraged local governments to adopt a zero-based budgeting approach.
Indeed, Florida’s local governments stand at a crossroads. While Florida’s economic growth, business friendliness, education system, and overall amenities are a beacon to all Americans, so too has the issue of affordability risen in importance to Floridians. Families, seniors, and essential workers face challenges as property values rise, pushing property tax burdens higher. In response, Governor Ron DeSantis proposed bold reforms, rooted in his understanding that property taxes are a cost lever that is fully in the control of the government to change. Reforms to the property tax system will mean a change to the soaring property tax revenues that Florida’s cities and counties have relied on for practically unconstrained general fund spending.
Most local governments still use incremental budgeting. They start with last year’s spending and simply add or subtract a small percentage. This approach is straightforward, but it is also flawed. It creates incentives to spend every dollar every year and tends to keep outdated programs alive. This approach also conceals inefficiencies and leads to bias in today’s decisions towards perpetuating decisions made in the past.
Zero-based budgeting takes a different, more disciplined path. It does not mean zero services, nor does it require cutting police or fire protection. It means that every program, every line item, and every dollar must justify its existence — not because it was in last year’s budget, but because it serves a demonstrable public purpose today. Government officials must justify every dollar as if the budget starts at zero. Departments build budgets from the ground up, ranking initiatives by value and impact and assessing them in terms of current needs, measurable outcomes, alignment with strategic priorities, and their replaceability by private sector activities.
As Florida DOGE and others have expounded on the value of zero-based budgeting, one common question is: “How do we do it?” This handbook provides the framework and the tools to bring ZBB to cities, counties, and other local government entities. It is organized into six parts:
- Understanding ZBB. Part I explains what ZBB is, what it is not, and how modern variants differ from versions employed in the past.
- Implementation. Part II walks through the seven phases of ZBB implementation, from the initial leadership resolution through permanent institutionalization.
- Operational Deep Dives. Part III applies ZBB principles to six specific operational categories that have proven most resistant to scrutiny: legal spending, communications, personnel, grants, capital projects, and technology.
- Making the Case. Part IV addresses the five most common objections to ZBB and provides the evidence-based responses that answer them.
- Tools and Resources. Part V provides ready-to-use tools: a model resolution, justification templates, scoring rubrics, and a glossary.
The benefits of ZBB are proven and timely. Organizations adopting ZBB routinely achieve 10-20 percent sustainable cost reductions, which will help local government absorb property tax relief without sacrificing services. Specifically, it can enable local governments to focus on essential functions of public safety, emergency management, and infrastructure while streamlining costs in other areas.
Families in communities across the country build their budgets from the ground up every month. They start with what matters most: housing, transportation, food, and then they make every remaining dollar earn its place. This handbook is a practical guide to each step in ZBB implementation. It asks government to build its budget with the same discipline families do when they send their tax dollars off to city hall. The time to start from zero is now.
