Clearwater council workshop makes 'ensure needs are addressed' top budget priority; staff asked to refine criteria, reserve targets and revenue tools

Clearwater City Council and staff met Feb. 25 for a budget workshop in which council members ranked high-level budgeting principles, debated use of reserves and long‑range millage projections, and asked staff to return with detailed prioritization criteria, reserve-target scenarios and revenue-generation options.

The council placed “ensuring needs are addressed” at the top of a three‑tier ordering that emerged from a paired‑comparison exercise of seven high‑level principles. Hal Beardall, the workshop facilitator, told the council that the statements on the worksheets were “drawn pretty directly from that, those 2 sets of discussions” held at the prior workshop.

Why it matters: staff told the council the capital improvement program currently includes 47 projects over the next seven years totaling about $541,000,000, and that reserve and revenue policy choices will influence how the city funds that pipeline. Council members expressed concern about both protecting reserves for storms and other shocks and finding recurring or one‑time revenues to avoid future tax pressure.

What the council decided and asked staff to do

- The council’s collective guidance placed “ensuring needs are addressed” above other statements in the exercise; two other items — taking care of existing assets and geographical equity of investment — landed in a lower tier.

- Council asked staff to develop a more detailed set of project‑prioritization criteria and to bring those criteria back for council review. Jennifer (City Manager)…