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For all county units of government, as well as municipalities, the most important end-of-year activity is finalizing a budget for the coming 12 months.
The budgeting process analyzes and allocates anticipated incoming revenue, outgoing financial obligations and debt service requirements, plus decides how remaining funds can be put to the best use, including possibly saving some money for a major project planned for the future.
Knowledgeable leaders are cognizant of their important role on all of those fronts. In fact, knowledgeable leaders keep those categories of responsibility in mind throughout the year as they consider new business that comes before them.
But then there can be more, as is commendably being demonstrated by what is happening in Altoona's city government, as well as in the Altoona Area School District even though Pennsylvania school districts' fiscal year is not Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, but rather July 1 through June 30.
First, regarding the city, which like other municipalities and counties operates on a January-through-
December fiscal calendar. The city 's plan to conduct a thorough Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat assessment -- being referred to as a SWOT analysis -- is a meaningful, aggressive step capable of benefiting the city for many years ahead.
Nevertheless, the city should implement such an exercise every five or 10 years, going forward, for the municipality to build upon all identified by this current analysis.
According to the current plan, as reviewed by City Manager Omar Strohm at a city council meeting, all municipal operations will undergo a close look and in-depth scrutiny involving people from all aspects of city operations.
Strohm said that, once that proverbial under-the-microscope study is completed, management will present the findings to the council.
That is estimated to be early 2023.
According to Strohm, the findings will be made available for potential inclusion in the city's new comprehensive plan currently being compiled.
While Strohm did not provide much detail regarding the nuts and bolts of the SWOT planning, a Penn State Extension article provides insight for this community to digest at this time. An important point of the article is that SWOT analyses provide important insight into how "your strengths may combat your weaknesses and your opportunities can offset your threats."
An important point beyond that is that SWOT analyses can alert the entity being examined about problems that are not so conveniently offset "so you may address them."
Reacting to the results of the SWOT analysis will, or certainly should be, one of city leaders' most important tasks of 2023.
Ditto for the Altoona Area School Board and other school district leaders as they ponder what is being referred to as the "state of the district."
The district is facing challenges due in part to the county's declining population, employee shortages, inflation and increasing revenue needs.
Charles Prijatelj, district superintendent, told the school board, while referring to an article in the Nov. 25 Pittsburgh Business Times, that Generation Z is providing a unique set of characteristics and challenges that are putting pressure not only on big-city school systems, but even on the most rural ones.
He told the local school board that the biggest factor is the generation's relatively small size. For the city and school district, then, the next 12 months are not going to be boring.