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Budgets in plain words: Mexico.

A take-home sheet for people at the session. Other countries: United States · United Kingdom · Canada · Australia · New Zealand · India · Philippines · Argentina.

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Budgets in plain words: Mexico

Handout · moraph.org/commons/sessions/voice/budgets-in-plain-words

A local budget shows what your local government plans to spend, and where the money comes from. It is public, and residents can usually comment before it is adopted.

Find it

  • Look on your local government’s website, under finance, budget or meetings.
  • Ask at a library or public office for a printed copy.
  • Staff can usually tell you where to find a line you are looking for.

Read it

  • Start with the summary: money in, money out.
  • Compare this year with last year. What grew, shrank or is new?
  • Look up only the services you care about in the detail pages.

Have a say

  • Find the budget calendar: proposal, hearings or consultation, vote.
  • Comment early, while the proposal can still change.
  • Name the line, say how it affects you, and say what you would like to happen.

Stay with official sources

  • Use the published budget and meeting papers, not summaries shared online.
  • Ask staff if a line is unclear; that is part of their job.

In Mexico

  • The federal budget. The federal executive sends the revenue bill (Iniciativa de Ley de Ingresos) and the draft federal spending budget (Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación) to the Chamber of Deputies by 8 September. Only the Chamber of Deputies approves the spending budget, by 15 November. The Constitution does not allow secret items in it.
  • Checking the accounts. The Chamber of Deputies reviews the previous year’s public accounts (Cuenta Pública) through the Auditoría Superior de la Federación, to check that spending followed the budget and met the goals of its programs.
  • Municipal budgets. State legislatures approve each municipality’s revenue law and review its accounts. The ayuntamiento (municipal council) approves the municipal spending budget, which must include a breakdown of what municipal public servants are paid.
  • Plain-language versions. The Secretaría de Hacienda’s Transparencia Presupuestaria portal explains the seven stages of the budget cycle and publishes citizen versions (versiones ciudadanas) of the draft and approved budget and the Cuenta Pública. It also has open data and shows what the federal government transfers to states and municipalities.

Official places to check:

General information, not advice about your own situation. Checked 22 October 2026. If an official source says something different, it is right. Free to copy and adapt. moraph.org/commons/sessions/voice/budgets-in-plain-words Version of .

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