Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
This Town reduces Resident Budget Inquiries With Collaborative Budgeting and Transparency

Primary Objective

Improve Financial Efficiency and Operations

The Town of Shrewsbury had a strong overall financial record but felt it needed to increase the efficiency of its financial operations.

Challenge

Inefficient Processes Despite Strong AAA Bond Rating

Shrewsbury, MA is a town of more than 38,000 residents just outside the city of Worcester in central Massachusetts. The town’s population has increased dramatically over the last several decades, thanks to low taxation and a top-notch school system. The town’s population has greatly diversified in recent decades as well.

Shrewsbury’s town government is strong, led by a highly-engaged, long-tenured board of selectmen. The town has always had a record of accomplishing a lot with a tight budget. In fact, it’s one of the top pension-funding towns in Massachusetts, despite having never passed a budget override until 2010. But, while the town believes that strong financial management has long been one of the secrets to its success — the town has a AAA bond rating — Shrewsbury entered 2018 with concerns about inefficiencies in its financial processes, especially regarding accurate forecasting, collaborative budgeting, and effective budget communications.

What’s more, like many rapidly-growing communities trying to do a lot with a little, Shrewsbury realized that it could be more effective with increased community trust and support.

Solution

Implementing Collaborative Budgeting & Transparency

The Town of Shrewsbury, along with its Public Schools, implemented ClearGov’s Operational Budgeting solution to address process inefficiencies. This provided both organizations with a simple, collaborative, online budgeting process for all departments, which was easy for all contributors to comply with, and included crucial forecasting and benchmarking capabilities.

Following this success, the town adopted ClearGov Transparency to utilize its suite of financial communications and community engagement tools, specifically aiming to build higher levels of community support and trust.

Results

Increased Community Trust and Reduced Inquiries

• Calls from residents with budget concerns dropped dramatically.
• Internal resistance to increasing the town’s level of transparency disappeared after implementation.
• The town received strongly positive feedback from the community on the new transparency efforts.
• The new Transparency Center was praised for being “easy for residents to look at and digest, without feeling like they’re reading a tome from the 18th century.”

With ClearGov Operational Budgeting, we really appreciate the graphics and the visual display, especially when you’re looking at multiple budgets at the same time. We’re also big fans of the simplicity and power of the forecasting functionality.

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