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Council hears first draft of city budget as members debate who sets goals
Summary
Finance staff distributed a first draft of the city budget; council members and department heads debated whether departmental or council-level goals should guide spending.
Anita Roberts, a city staff member, distributed the city’s first draft budget and said the document is incomplete: “It is far from over. We don't have our insurance numbers. We don't have our property tax numbers.”
The draft includes department capital requests and a proposed 35-cent fee increase for the deputy. Roberts told council members she had uploaded individual department requests for review and invited them to meet with staff for questions before the next discussion.
The council’s discussion that followed centered on whether spending should be driven by department-level priorities or by council-set goals. One council member urged a clearer set of citywide objectives, saying, “58 days into this administration... Are we planning for this upcoming fiscal year?” Another council member and former finance committee member cautioned that budgets reflect core city services—police, fire, roads—and that additions require identifying cuts elsewhere before adopting new programs.
Roberts responded that the municipal budget process differs from the private sector and that department heads submit their own goals through the budget request process: “Each department head is responsible for setting what they want to achieve in the next fiscal year. That's why they submit their budgets.” She said staff had met with each department head and that all submitted materials would be shared with council members for review.
Council members pressed on how overarching goals would be established and enforced. Roberts said she trusts department heads to set objectives and that council members’ role is to review those requests and make funding decisions based on available resources. She also noted fund constraints, explaining that utilities and other enterprise funds are separate and money cannot be shifted freely between those accounts.
No formal budget votes were taken at this meeting. Roberts said the administration and departments would continue work on numbers not yet available and encouraged council members to request one-on-one meetings for clarification.
Looking ahead, Roberts said department budgets and capital requests would be on the agenda for the next meeting and that final insurance and property tax figures will be added when they are available.
