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Board workshop lays out push for timelier budget reports, public survey and committee review
Summary
County staff described plans to shift budget timeline earlier in the year, provide more frequent budget-to-actual reporting, and run a community survey and committee process to solicit residents' priorities as the board prepares the next fiscal year budget.
County officials outlined steps to deliver faster and clearer budget information and to increase public engagement in the budget process.
Deputy CEO Tony Rakes reviewed a timeline that shifts some mid-year reporting earlier into the calendar year and aims to give departments more lead time for next year's budget requests. Rakes said departments will submit budget requests in early March and the county plans three public budget workshops (March, April and May) before the June public hearing and adoption.
Chief Executive Officer Darcy Antal and several supervisors asked staff to explore more frequent budget-to-actual reporting: options discussed ranged from monthly reports attached to the CEO's report, quarterly narrative summaries, to a scripted nightly data dump of raw budget data on the county website. Deputy CEO Tony Riggs (IT) said an automated script to publish a live snapshot is technically feasible but carries risks: it would be timely but could show unvetted data that changes frequently.
The board also directed staff to pursue public input tools. Supervisor Mulhern proposed a countywide budget survey that would let residents rank priorities by categories and line items; supervisors asked staff to return with a proposal for the General Government Committee to consider and develop before budget workshops.
Why this matters: The timeline and reporting changes are intended to give supervisors and the public earlier, clearer information to guide decisions on one-time and ongoing budget allocations.
