Discussion questions:
Government Budgeting and Expenditures" Please respond to the following:
1. Based on the second e-Activity that focuses on the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2014 and 2015, analyze the president's messages and the three budgets you selected. Discuss four (4) governmental expenditures that you believe will have a significant impact on the national economy. Justify your response with examples.
"Organizing Budget Data and Chart of Accounts" Please respond to the following:
2. From the first e-Activity, discuss three major government programs that impact federal spending and whether any of the programs can be realistically cut. Justify your response with examples.
"Budgeting 101" Please respond to the following:
3. From the second e-Activity, discuss three challenges in the budget process. Justify your response with examples.
4. From the third e-Activity, identify and explain your choices for reductions and increases. Discuss at least two lessons you learned about the challenge of balancing the federal budget.
Preparing the Operating Budget" Please respond to the following:
5. From the e-Activities, discuss two differences between Michigan's budget and Georgia's budget in terms of budget process, financial reporting, and costs analysis (fixed costs, step-fixed costs, and variable costs). Justify your response with examples.
6. Discuss the pros and cons of forecasting over a five to ten year period. Justify your response with examples.
"The Budget" Please respond to the following:
7. From the first e-Activity, discuss four governmental expenditures that you believe will have a significant impact on your local economy over the next year. Justify your response with examples
8. Discuss two to three challenges an administrator may face when developing and reviewing proposals for budget cuts.
"Revenue Estimating" Please respond to the following:
9. From the e-Activity about the "Annual Population Estimates 2000 to 2009," analyze and forecast a comparison of the population growth rate from 2010 through 2016 of the State of Michigan and Georgia. Provide these figures in your response for each year. Based on your prediction for the years 2015 and 2016, discuss the impact of each state's population increase on the four (4) highest discretionary spending accounts. Note: Please refer back to Week 3 and review the State of Michigan and your Georgia's budget.
10. Discuss at least two challenges an administrator should consider when preparing a trend analysis over a five (5) year period. Justify your response.