This text is an excellent resource for graduate students in public budgeting and financial management courses. By combining public finance theory with practical applications and tools, this book allows students in my classes to prepare budget proposals, develop and defend capital budgets and capital improvement plans, and use a range of budgeting techniques and analytical models to prepare personnel services and operating budgets. Most importantly, the book’s contents make it easy for students to apply what they have learned directly into their work as public servants. As one student proclaimed, “I continue to be very pleased with the Menifield book which has tended to overlap with my experiences. For example, my agency is struggling with a structural deficit and utilizing other funds to maintain service levels, much like he discussed in chapter 7’”. The text also provides faculty with a plethora of resources (exercise solutions, power point presentations by chapter, instructors’ manual, and excel spreadsheets).

Lachezar Anguelov, Evergreen State College

The Basics of Public Budgeting and Financial Management offers basic budgeting and financial management skills that can be easily grasped by undergraduates, graduates, and practitioners. It is a great tool for helping students understand budgeting from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Not only are students provided with a rich understanding of theory, they are given hands-on experience with developing, justifying, and defending budgets, all of which are integral to bridging theory and practice.
Each chapter contains questions that require application of the materials learned as well as exercises to help students improve their analytical, decision-making, and written communication skills. The book also provides partially filled Excel spreadsheets which are instrumental in providing students an opportunity to acquire experience in revenue estimation and budget preparation. Last, the book is accompanied with power point presentations and an instructor’s manual which further makes the course easier to teach.

LaShonda M. Stewart, Southern Illinois University Carbondale