City Council will meet Tuesday, March 10, at 6 p.m. as it begins a department-by-department review of the working draft of a budget submitted by City Manager Joe King. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in the fourth floor conference room at the Municipal Building.
The departments under review on March 10 will be community development, transportation, information technology, finance, city manager and city attorney. Other departmental budgets are scheduled for review on March 17, March 24 and March 31.
Under the working draft as submitted by King, municipal services and programs will remain at current levels with no increases in real estate, meals and lodging taxes.
The budget draft includes a utility rate study recommendation for an average 3.5 percent increase in wastewater rates. The bill for the typical residential customer would increase by $1.85 a month. No increases for electricity, gas and water are included in the budget draft.
The working draft of the city’s budget is for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The city’s charter requires the city manager to submit a budget draft to City Council by April 1. After it is submitted, the charter requires the city manager and City Council to work together in modifying the budget into a formal version for presentation to the public no later than April 30.
King submitted the working draft early to enable City Council to undertake a more extensive review of the budget.
Public hearings will be scheduled later in the budget process. Final adoption must take place no later than June 30. The final budget will serve as a blueprint for city operations from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.