Sometimes politicians will present the budget in a way that will be acceptable by the public, because of public pressure, even if the results are inefficient and deceptive. Rubin's third characteristic is that the budget document itself becomes an important means of accountability. Citizens cannot go around and watch everything government does but the budget serves as proof that they have done what they said they would do. For example, the citizens of our community were dismayed with the way the Director of the Housing Authority in Corpus Christi handled the agency's budget funds. Rubin's fourth characteristic describes public budgets as being vulnerable to the environment, to the economy, change in public opinion, the media, to elections, and natural and political disasters.
Public officials have to be able to reallocate funds in times of emergencies.
Such as the floods in California which required massive government aid, or the drought in our own area that initiated government subsidies to farmers and ranchers. Rubin's fifth characteristic states that public budgets have many constraints. The need for flexibility may also subject budgets to many constraints. Federal grants provide budgetary constraints when they can only be spend on particular programs. Kingdon states that potential agenda items never make it to the agenda stage because of many budget constraints.