Glendale City Manager Patrick Banger started his government career by taking part in a very traditional top-down city budget process.
He quickly realized he was not a fan of it.
“The very first budget process I was a part of was very typical, each department goes back, puts together their budget based on projections for historical cost increases or inflationary impacts to various line items,” Banger said. “They fill their budget and then give it to the city manager. That person would close the door and pull out the red pen and hand it back.”
