Laserfiche WebLink
Metadata
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015 Laserfiche. All rights reserved.
Finance and Management Services <br />www.santa-ana.org/finance <br />Item # 16 <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> Staff Report <br />November 2, 2021 <br />TOPIC: Balancing Act Software Suite for Budget Education, Engagement, and <br />Transparency <br />AGENDA TITLE: <br />Approve an Agreement with Healthy Outcomes, Inc. DBA Balancing Act in an Amount not <br />to Exceed $55,000 for a Subscription and Support Services Agreement (General Fund) <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Healthy Outcomes, Inc., DBA <br />Balancing Act for a three-year period effective November 3, 2021, with an option to extend <br />for up to two one-year renewals exercisable by the City Manager and City Attorney, not <br />to exceed $55,000 over the entirety of the five-year period, subject to non-substantive <br />changes approved by the City Manager and City Attorney. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The City has provided a number of financial documents such as audited financial <br />statements, City budgets, and budget/financial presentations on the City’s website in an <br />effort to increase transparency. The City also uses a transparency tool, OpenBook, to <br />provide a list of vendor payments and a summary of budgeted and actual revenue and <br />expenses to the public. <br />To enhance the public’s understanding of the City’s Budget, staff has recently reviewed <br />a budget simulation tool, Balancing Act. Balancing Act is an annual subscription service <br />that includes three software tools: <br />The Simulate Tool provides a way for the City of Santa Ana to frame financial <br />tradeoffs by allowing residents to build their own City budget. The Simulate Tool <br />provides multiple budget inputs to work with and produces detailed and visual <br />reports. <br />The Prioritize Tool offers a simple way to present projects and costs. The City sets <br />an overall budget and users select projects up to a specified amount, and then <br />rank-orders them. The report provides weighted and unweighted results and can <br />identify top projects based on three different voting techniques, including instant <br />runoff. The City can utilize this tool to seek assistance with prioritizing projects