Outcome-Based Budgeting & Portfolio Management

The problem

City budgets are built by copying last year's line items and adding a little. Nobody asks what outcomes the money bought — so programs that don't work keep getting funded out of habit.

The plan

The city moves to outcome-based budgeting: departments define the outcomes they're buying, set KPIs, and report against them. Draft templates and first-wave department KPIs are built in Days 31–60.

Budget decisions flow through a portfolio view — what works gets funded, what doesn't gets fixed or cut — while appropriations follow the Council budget process.

How you’ll know it’s working

• Outcome-budget templates drafted
• First-wave department KPIs published
• Portfolio reviews tied to budget decisions

From the Blueprint

• Every department must submit outcome commitments — indicators, service-level goals, equity targets — alongside its budget request.
• Budget requests without outcome commitments are not forwarded to the Mayor’s Office for consideration.
• Civic Insights develops the performance framework and reporting templates within 60 days.
• Full transition to outcome-based budgeting as the primary methodology targets the FY2028 budget cycle.
• A budget-to-results view on CitySync connects dollars to initiatives to outcomes in plain English — no login required.

Tampa’s budget will tell residents exactly what they are getting for their tax dollars.