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).
