During this year, the budget has increased by $10 \%$. This increased budget is $\$ 242,000$. How much was the budget in the past, before the increase? If necessary, round to the nearest dollar. Enter the answer without any commas.

Step 1 ：The problem states that the budget has increased by 10% this year, and the increased budget is $242,000. This means that the increased budget is 110% of the original budget.

Step 2 ：We can set up the equation \(1.1 \times \text{{original budget}} = 242000\) to find the original budget.

Step 3 ：Solving this equation for the original budget gives us \(\text{{original budget}} = \frac{{242000}}{{1.1}}\)

Step 4 ：Calculating the above expression gives us \(\text{{original budget}} = 219999.99999999997\)

Step 5 ：Rounding to the nearest dollar gives us \(\text{{original budget}} = 220000\)

Step 6 ：Final Answer: The original budget before the increase was \(\boxed{220000}\)