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Instructions:
You will have the opportunity to rank each of the County's 55 Program Categories across 7 priority levels. Level 1 indicates the category is of the highest priority, while level 7 programs are more discretionary. The fundamental principle is that everything can't be a "top" priority. This is not to suggest that any of the Program Categories are not important to the community. However, the County's annual budget represents a collection of choices made by the Board as to what services it wants to buy, and there are consequences associated with the choices. The priority setting exercise helps provide a foundation for those choices.
► My County Priorities Rules
► Program Categories
► Choice Matrix
► Board's Priority Ranking
► My Priority Ranking
► Change the Priority
► Reset and Sort
► Print
► Help
► Feedback
►My County Priorities Rules:
There are only a couple of rules in choosing how to rank your priorities, and are the same ones used by the Board:
- No more than 8 Program Categories per priority level, and
- Because of funding source or service mandates, 6 of Program Categories can be placed in any priority level without affecting the other programs in that level. These Program Categories are denoted by an *. - top
►Program Categories
County services are organized within Program Categories. Clicking on the Program Category will open a description with summary information. - top
►Choice Matrix
The Choice Matrix is used by the Board to illustrate choices available in funding decisions for Program Categories. Some Program Categories appear in multiple quadrants of the matrix due to differences in funding choice associated with specific services within the category. Click on the Matrix column to read more about the Choice Matrix. - top
►Board's Priority Ranking
This is the ranking established by the Board for each Program Category for the Fiscal Year 2006 budget process. - top
►My Priority Ranking
Your Program Category rankings will be recorded in this column. - top
►Change the Priority
Clicking on the Change button will allow you to insert your choice of ranking and level for each Program Category. - top
►Reset and Sort
The choices can be difficult, so there is a Reset tool that will clear your priority column and allow you to start over.
Once you're ready to review your list, clicking on the header of the My County Priorities column will reorder the Program Categories based on your priority choices. You can also click on the headers of the other columns to sort by Program Category, Choice Matrix, or the Board's Priorities. - top
►Print
To keep a copy of your budget choices when finished, click the Print This Page tool to keep the comparison of your priorities and the Board's priorities. - top
►Help
Clicking Help will bring you back to these instructions at any point within My County Priorities. - top
►Feedback
Lastly, we would like to know whether My County Priorities was useful in helping explain the Board's process for setting priorities. Please click on Feedback and share your thoughts with us. - top
Begin Using "My County Priorities"
