Boulder wants public to help define citywide goals, priorities
Budget process for 2011 begins with meeting tonight
By Heath Urie Camera Staff Writer
Boulder Daily Camera
Boulder wants to move to a "priority-based" model for the city budget. That system seeks to identify how important every program, department and service is, based on whether they help achieve the goals of the community. For example, if the public and the City Council decided that having safe neighborhoods is a top priority, services like police and firefighters would likely help meet those objectives. Those departments would then look at each of their expenses to see what contributes to their success and efficiency.
Anything that doesn't could be a starting point for budget cuts. "Ranking isn't a word that I would use," Brautigam said. "Prioritizing is the way we're thinking about it."
In an effort to change the way the city decides what services and programs are most important, and which ones residents could live without, Boulder's finance officials are reaching out to the public ahead of planning the 2011 budget.
Last year, Boulder was forced to cut about $5 million in spending and the equivalent of 26 full-time jobs amid the national recession. According to the 2008 Blue Ribbon Commission on Budget Stabilization, the city faces a $100 million annual shortfall by 2030 if significant cost-saving steps aren't taken.
With that in mind, City Manager Jane Brautigam has made it clear that she wants to streamline the way the city prioritizes its services in case more cuts are needed.
For years, the city has relied on a "business plan" model of budgeting, which lumps services and programs into categories of essential, desirable and discretionary spending.
Bob Eichem, Boulder's finance director, said that has become a difficult model to manage.
"We found that something like 80 percent of items were in the essential category," Eichem said. "How do you know what's essential when everything is?"
Brautigam now wants to move to a "priority-based" model for the city budget. That system seeks to identify how important every program, department and service is, based on whether they help achieve the goals of the community.
For example, if the public and the City Council decided that having safe neighborhoods is a top priority, services like police and firefighters would likely help meet those objectives. Those departments would then look at each of their expenses to see what contributes to their success and efficiency.
Anything that doesn't could be a starting point for budget cuts.
"Ranking isn't a word that I would use," Brautigam said. "Prioritizing is the way we're thinking about it."
She said programs that end up at the bottom of the list aren't necessarily doomed. Instead, she said they could be "tweaked" to help meet the city's goals.
To figure out what those goals should be, the city is hosting a series of public meetings.
From 6 to 8 p.m. today at the East Boulder Community Center, 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder finance officials will present information about the new budget process and ask residents which city services are most important and what outcomes they should generate.
A second meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday at the West Senior Center, 909 Arapahoe Ave.
"The input of the residents is really vital," Brautigam said. "What we've done is try to create a very broad idea of what we think the results are that the community wants to achieve. But we need to hear from them."
There's already some idea of where Boulder residents stand.
Last summer, a survey of about 600 people asked where the city should focus its resources over the next five years. The most popular answers were that the city should cut spending, maintain basic services and stabilize its budget.
The survey also concluded that people would be most upset with slower response times to fire, medical and police emergencies, followed by the closing of recreation centers or library branches. People said they'd be the least upset with cuts to Boulder Channel 8 public television, fewer adult recreation programs and a longer time for city staffers to review development projects.
Whether those priorities remain the same will become a critical question beginning in April, when the city makes its projections about how much revenue it will generate next year and how deep it might have to cut.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment