1. This case concerns decision making with regard to public budget in order to arrive at a decision that competently addresses the financial needs of the Gaston county of Carolina state. The case involves finding means to balance budget requirements in order to arrive at a suitable budget that precisely addresses financial situation of Gaston County.
2. The political context of this case revolves around seeking the most appropriate procedure to address the needs of the public. For instance, debates are raised regarding whether or not to increase taxes. Elected county commissioners are bestowed with decision-making responsibility in order to harmonize the budget situation of the county. The debates prevalent in the case aim at finding a reliable solution.
3. The major challenge in this case revolves around balancing the budget in the free of reduced revenues while still holding to the majority of board members’ desire to avoid raising taxes. Still, this case is difficult because different commissioners have different opinions and ideas regarding the best approach to adopt in order to arrive at a reliable solution to the problem.
4. Decision makers focus on how they can increase revenues without necessarily increasing taxes. However, the deficit keeps increasing with increase in expenditure demands. Still, they focus on reduction of expenditure by cutting of certain areas and aspects of expenditure. Decision makers focus on balancing the balance so that the deficit is addressed appropriately without putting pressure on the citizens.
5. decision-makers can either increase taxes, cut of some expenditure items, or even sell some of the public assets in order to solve their problem. However, there are certain factors, which should be considered as they may give rise to more difficulties in this situation if the decision arrived at is not well implemented. As such, the options available should strictly focus on mitigating the effects of the problem and promoting effectiveness and efficiency.
6. The members of the county population are impacted on the decision to be made. For instance, layoffs are possible. This implies that some of the public employees may lose their jobs if this is arrived at. Property owners and other individuals are subject to increased taxes. As such, they will have to pay increased taxes if this becomes the decision.
7. Increasing taxes will ensure that the deficit problem is well addressed. However, certain officials and taxpayers may criticize it as it negatively affects them. Cutting some expenditure item will possibly increase revenues. However, this will affect the following fiscal year budget negatively. Selling public assets will enable recovery of the budget. However, it will cut of future revenues collected from the use of the asset.
8. This case relates to disaster and emergency management in that, critical decisions are necessary and urgent in such situations. This enables the decision makers to arrive at a reliable decision timely in order to address the situation. At times, in these cases, decisions may be delayed which affect the solution to the problems. As such, the two cases represent important areas of decision making in the societal context, which need quick and urgent consultations to come up with a quick and reliable solution. In order to solve the problems involved in both cases, it is important to identify possible options and identify their suitability promptly.
9. In assisting the decision makers in this case, I would fist seek to address the question, when did this problem of imbalance in the budget begin to occur? What are the factors leading to development of this problem? What steps have been taken to address this problem previously? As such, I would need to know the budget information of the previous fiscal years in order to have a firm platform on which to base my opinions and contributions. Understanding previous years’ budgets of the county would enable understanding of the operational processes of the county and hence develop an approach that addresses the county situation appropriately.
10. Based on my experience and knowledge, I would advice the decision makers to look into the root of this problem before beginning the decision-making process. Still they should consider various options at a time in addressing this problem. This would enable them to generate contributions that relate to the source of the problem. Identifying the primary cause of the problem is significant in that it enables decision makers to be objective with regard to rooting out the problematic issue in a particular case.
11. Decision making is a usually a challenging process. Decision makers should analyze and identify possible options in solving a problem and address them each at a time. Proper consultation is necessary with external parties with relevant experience. In making decisions to address public issues, it is important to consider options, which serve all members of public equitably. This enables competent delivery of public service. Due to variety of ideas and opinions, in team decision making, it is necessary to have a team leader who guides the persons involved through the decision making process.
