Recommended 2011 Budget
At the Monday evening City Council meeting, Finance Director Rebecca Noland provided a brief overview of the City Manager’s 2011 Recommended Program of Services and Recommended Capital Improvement Plan 2011-2015. The purpose of these core policy documents is to fulfill the responsibility of City government to promote and protect the common good in a financially sustainable manner for 2011 as well as the crucial years beyond. In preparing the recommended budget, our financial forecast addressed three major factors:
- The slow national economic recovery;
- Existing state legislative tax and spending limits; and
- Uncertainty regarding the next State biennium budget
The underlying theme of the recommended budget is protecting essential public structures. Public structures are the facilities and systems that:
- Define and connect our community,
- Enable us as a community to get things done, and
- Ensure the health and well-being of our community.
The City Manager’s Budget Message notes that:
The public structures and services in Eau Claire that we have built and maintained for generations are the foundation for our community and fundamental to our continued prosperity, stability, and economic opportunities in the future. The ongoing challenge for our annual operational budgets as well as for our capital investment program is to ensure that we protect the public structures and systems essential for the well-being of ordinary community members and pass on for future generations a strong and vibrant community.
Copies of the recommended budget will be available online and for review at the LE Phillips Public Library, and the City Clerk’s Office.
Over the next two weeks, the City Council will hold public work sessions to discuss and review the proposed budget. A special budget public hearing will be held on Monday November 1 at 7pm in the City Council Chambers to receive public comments and feedback regarding the proposed budget. On Friday 5, beginning at 5pm the City Council will meet in a public meeting to consider final adoption of the budget.
The City is repeating an online October survey regarding potential alternative revenues strategies that were identified for discussion by the City Council a year ago, and discussed in the community forums held this spring. We encourage everyone to complete the October survey, even if they had participated in earlier online or community forum surveys.
Results of all of the revenue surveys will be posted at the end of October and provided to the City Council prior to their consideration of budget adoption.