Budget Reform in St. Louis: Why Does Budgeting Change?

This article summarizes major changes in municipal budgeting over the last 20 years, and explores reasons behind these changes, using a case study of St. Louis, Missouri. The article concludes that several factors contributed to the changes, including long-term fiscal stress, technical capacity in terms of computerization and accounting systems, professional staff, and a supportive mayor. The budget changes give the mayor more control over the departments and more flexibility of resource allocation within an extremely constrained budget.