SAN ANTONIO- A hybrid version of zero-based budgeting is in the city of San Antonio’s future for 2027.
Now, the federal government is considering a plan to cut wasteful spending. Local experts say if it was implemented on the federal level, it could save hundreds of billions of dollars in federal taxpayer dollars.
UIW professor, Dr. David Vequist says implementing zero-based budgeting on the federal level would be a major undertaking, but could also mean small efficiencies could translate into significant taxpayer savings.
“The growth of the federal bureaucracy is something that had to be looked at for some time,” says Dr. David Vequist.
President-elect Trump has proposed the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE to reduce government spending. Dr. Vequist conservatively estimates potential savings from DOGE implementing ZBB in 2025 could range from $150 to $500 billion.
“To evaluate the various programs and projects that are going on within the gov. to determine if they’re having the expected impact,” says Dr. Vequist.
District 10 San Antonio City Councilman Marc Whyte says, “(ZBB) it’s budgeting for results rather than budgeting just to spend money.”
A hybrid version of zero-based budgeting is already in the works for the city of San Antonio for fiscal year 2027.
“Everybody should be looking at how we’re spending taxpayer money,” says Councilman Whyte.
Councilman Whyte hopes it also enhances transparency.
“These are our citizens’ hard-earned dollars that these governments are spending, we need to make sure we’re not wasting their money and that we’re putting their money to use in a way that’s going to most directly and positively impact our citizens’ lives,” says Councilman Whyte.
In the next few months, the council will hire a third party to help implement the new ZBB method.