The Budget Mirage

“We don’t have the budget.”

It’s one of the most common phrases in community planning.

In this episode, I unpack The Budget Mirage: the idea that a lack of money is usually standing in for something else, unclear priorities, fuzzy outcomes, or discomfort making a visible choice.

This conversation isn’t about finding more funding.
 It’s about spending with intention.

We’ll talk about why money feels scarce when priorities aren’t clear, how vague goals make every dollar feel risky, and why “playing it safe” often guarantees that nothing actually improves.

Then we zoom out to what changes when city managers and councils enter the picture. Because the Budget Mirage doesn’t disappear in governance, it just moves upstream. When priorities, outcomes, and tradeoffs aren’t clear, leaders can’t defend decisions, and funding stalls.

This episode will help you:

• Reframe budget conversations away from excuses and toward clarity
• Understand what makes a proposal fundable—not just appealing
• Bring forward decisions that are easier to explain, evaluate, and stand behind

If budget conversations keep shutting things down in your community, this episode will help you see why—and what to do differently next time.

Thanks for listening!

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