Staff is requesting input from Council about a preferred schedule for budget hearings. 

Each year the City Council is presented the budget over multiple weeks in May and June. This process has been done by adding additional work sessions to the calendar in May and June, which allow for portions of the budget to be presented each week for 5-7 weeks. This has resulted in budget adoption occurring at a regular meeting in June. In recent years the staff has added additional work sessions for budget review, and pushed back budget adoption. This has been done to help provide better understanding and clarity on the budget for City Council. In a continued effort to make the budget more consumable and with the goal of providing City Council with a better budget, staff would like feedback from City Council with respect to the budget hearing calendar and overall budget process. One option that staff would like for City Council to consider is a budget presentation schedule that is closer together. The hope is that when the budget is presented over multiple nights in a row, a better understanding of the whole budget takes place. The other option is consistent with our past practice and would present the budget over multiple weeks. Below are two options for Council to consider.



Additionally, we are seeking any input from Council that will help make the budget process better. Below are some questions that may help the discussion process.

What have you seen in the past that has been most helpful?

Are there specific areas of the budget that you would like to focus on over other areas?

Is there budget information that you feel has been missing or lacking in the past?

Staff is seeking only feedback from City Council on the budget process, no action is needed.

Staff is seeking only feedback from City Council on the budget process, there are no fiscal effects associated with the discussion.