'Narrative' budget offers plain talk

SANDPOINT - To the uninitiated, reading the raw numbers of a city budget can be akin to deciphering ancient hieroglyphics.

In order to help Sandpoint residents understand how, why and on what their tax dollars are being spent, the city recently unveiled the first of what it hopes will be an annual narrative budget report.

Instead of relying solely on the raw data, the report offers a description of every program and department in the city, the major goals and objectives of each department, a list of what each department spent and why they spent it.

Mayor Gretchen Hellar said the document is meant to give residents a better understanding of how the city operates.

"It helps explain why decisions were made," Hellar said. "We just felt it was easier to understand in this form."

Hellar said the city borrowed the idea of a narrative budget from Jerome, Idaho, but she credits treasurer Shannon Syth for spearheading the project and bringing it to completion.

While the document is considerably more reader friendly than the actual budget, Hellar joked that it will most likely not make it to the top of the best-sellers chart any time soon.

"I thought it was interesting to read. Not that I'd sit down with it in front of a cozy fire, but at least it didn't give me a headache," she said.

Copies of the narrative budget are available in the reference section of the East Bonner County Library and at city hall. Hellar said the city also hopes to post a copy of the document on the city's Web site in the future.