My meeting with the two new elected officials would begin by congratulating them on their new functions and informing them of the honor granted to them as new members of my municipal council. I would then begin a discussion about the concept of social equity and inform them of their moral obligations as a city council member to be fair, honest, and equal. I then spent time discussing Rawl's theory of justice and emphasized the use of his Veil of Ignorance when discussing the affairs of the city, i.e. budgeting, tax rates and promulgation of ordinances. The meeting would then move on to a discussion of the state of the city's budget when I was named city manager and my view of the purpose of a budget. Purpose of the Budget Government agencies are often viewed as an operation consisting of collecting taxes, purchasing resources, using resources, and accomplishing tasks. And in its broadest form, it is a government organization. However, these tasks must be financed and they are financed by a budget. The purpose of a budget is to provide an instrument for determining what services the government will provide and how each service will be financed. The budget gives the government and its taxpayers the means to identify these operating costs for a given year. The budget should be seen less as a forecast of expenditure and more as a representation of the costs that each organization will incur in providing its public services. Of course, the budget does more than provide for monetary transactions. The following are functions of a budget that are often overlooked but are one of the main purposes of creating a budget. Management tool. Every activity carried out by the government is financed by the budget. This allows managers to assemble the middle of paper......which is then broken down into individual accounts. In most cases, the budget will also include budget allocations from the previous three years. This helps with transparency because it shows the public specifically which positions are being reduced or increased. Budget Philosophy My meeting with the new board members would end with a discussion of my budget philosophy. This philosophy is a commitment to providing the highest quality of service to the city's residences at the lowest possible cost. Public servants have a duty to their taxpaying citizens to provide the best service available, because it is the citizens who make their work possible. I would end the meeting by asking council members how long they think a private company would stay in business if it provided an inferior product and ask them if that is what they expect from their city..