Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Prioritization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fiscal committee agrees to continue outcome‑based deliberations, sets March and February follow‑ups
Summary
Committee reviewed December deliberation results, discussed narrowing to a limited set of measurable priorities for budget planning, agreed to collect virtual pre‑work, and scheduled a Feb. 27 session on council priorities and a March 13 meeting on controller reports and fund details.
Chair and committee members reviewed the deliberation session held in December (facilitated by "Isabelle") and the scoring exercise used to rank outcomes for three categories (high‑performing government, housing and homelessness, and economic development). The chair said she had recorded council rankings and scored them (3 points for first, 2 for second, 1 for third) and asked whether the committee should complete the remaining four outcome categories in a future deliberation session.
Controller Jeff McKinnon and several council members proposed focusing this year on a smaller, actionable set of priorities — for example, a shortlist of about 10 outcomes — and then mapping specific program expenditures and reporting back on those priorities rather than attempting an eight‑month ResourceX priority‑based budgeting inventory this year. Members emphasized distinguishing outcomes from programs and prioritizing trackable items that staff can report on efficiently.
Committee members recommended pre‑work (virtual collection of input) ahead of an in‑person deliberation session to reduce the on‑floor chaos experienced previously. The group discussed legal constraints (open‑meeting/serial‑meeting rules) and agreed a structured, aggregated questionnaire (such as a Google form) would be acceptable to collect council input without violating meeting rules.
Timing and calendar items tied to budget formation were also highlighted: committee staff noted Department of Local Government Finance dates the group should track, including an approximate May 15 supplemental LIT distribution, a July 31 estimate of property‑tax cap losses, and an Aug. 16 local income tax distribution date. Members agreed that sooner deliberations are better for budget planning and that mid‑April would be pushing the timeline.
The committee scheduled two meetings: Feb. 27, 08:30, focused on council deliberation data; and March 13, 08:30, focused on controller reports, funds and nuts‑and‑bolts items. Members discussed adopting a recurring Friday morning cadence for meetings through the summer and adjourned the session.
"I think the exercise is eliminating not everything in here is a budgetary item, and I think Jeff and I are on the same page of how can we narrow the list to what are the 10 things that you really want to know," the deputy mayor said.
