Let’s say you’re a mayor have a budget of 1,000 something per 4 years. You want to do something with that money.
I’ve seen some cases in which with this kind of a budget, the spending goes like this:
Solution A:
– 900 on a building;
– 20/year * 4 years = 80 on services to keep it clean;
– 5 / year * 4 years = 20 on services that will put that building to use.
To me, this is clearly wrong. The main focus of building something is putting it to use. If you can use a building with zero or small resources, it’s fine to have a budget as above (let’s say you build a public sports centre). But if you can’t fill the need for services within that building with a close-to-zero budget, the budget should more accurately use the resources:
Solution B:
– 520 on a building;
– 20/year * 4 years = 80 on services to keep it clean;
– 100 / year * 4 years = 400 on services that will put that building to use.
The building is not everything, you also have to think on how to use it. Examples include: a cultural building (shows, expositions, events), a library (you can also provide Internet services, and PC training in a library – Microsoft sponsors programs like these), a park (social events, fairs).