# Write a budget request for a new or expanded public program

A budget decision package with the need, costed options, performance measures, and consequences of not funding, ready for budget office review.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Finance, Write, Code, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/write-a-budget-request-for-a-new-or-expanded-public-program

## Prompt

```text
Help me write a budget request (decision package) for my agency.

**Program or initiative:** [NAME and short description]
**Budget cycle and format:** [e.g. "biennial state budget", "annual city budget", "supplemental request"; any required template headings]
**Problem or need:** [DATA showing demand, backlog, risk, or mandate]
**Mandate or authority:** [statute, court order, federal requirement, council direction, or none]
**Cost estimate:** [positions/FTEs, personnel, operating, one-time vs. ongoing, by year]
**Funding source proposed:** [general fund, fees, grant, federal match]
**Expected results:** [OUTPUTS and outcomes]

Draft the request with:
1. Summary of the request and total cost (one paragraph).
2. Problem statement with evidence.
3. Proposed solution and how it works.
4. Options considered: at least three, including a lower-cost option and status quo, each with cost and trade-offs.
5. Cost table: Item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Ongoing | Fund source | Assumption.
6. Performance measures: baseline, target, and how we will report.
7. Consequences of not funding.
8. Equity and service-delivery impacts on affected residents.
9. Risks and dependencies (hiring timelines, IT, procurement).

Then review it the way a budget analyst would: list the 5 hardest questions and where the request is weak.

Rules: use only numbers I provide and show calculations; mark missing figures [ADD]; separate one-time from ongoing costs; do not overstate outcomes.
```

## What to fill in

- NAME and short description
- DATA showing demand, backlog, risk, or mandate
- general fund, fees, grant, federal match
- OUTPUTS and outcomes
- ADD

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.