Mayor Dave issued the following message on how he hopes city residents can help shape Madison’s next budget. I hope that the Board of Education uses a similar approach during the district’s budgt process next spring.
Thanks to the combination of state levy limits and higher costs for providing City services (due to factors such as escalating fuel costs),the City of Madison faces a $4 million budget gap for 2006.
Closing this gap will force the City to make a number of tough choices.
As I work on developing my budget proposal, I want to hear from the public about what priorities we should set for scarce City resources.
To help get that input, I am holding a series of interactive “Build
Your Own Budget” forums this month. At these forums, participants will get to put themselves in my shoes, and balance the City budget through their chosen combination of spending cuts and revenue increases.
Background and worksheets will be provided to guide participants
through the budget process and outline various spending and revenue options to choose from. I will use the information gathered at these forums as I craft my executive budget for introduction in October.
The forums are all free and open to the public. The forum schedule is
listed below. I hope that you will take this unique opportunity to make your voice heard on how the City should set its priorities in the year to come.
“BUILD YOUR OWN BUDGET” FORUM SCHEDULE:
September 7, 6:30 p.m.: Mayor’s Budget Workshop Alicia Ashman Branch
Library, 733 North High Point Road
September 14, 6:30 p.m.: Mayor’s Budget Workshop Warner Park Community Recreation Center, 1625 Northport Drive
September 15, 6:30 p.m.: Mayor’s Budget Workshop Catholic
Multicultural Center, 1862 Beld Street
Mayor Dave
Ed:
The school board/district actually will be coordinating a process similar to the City process. It is based on a simulated game called “The $100 Budget: A Reduction Technique That Works.” It is from Forest Grove, Oregon. The district administration is in the process of developing it for Madison. I don’t want to get into specifics now but it will be discussed at a future school board meeting. I thought you (and others) would like to know. There is much discussion being done regarding next year’s budget now and every effort is being made to involve many members of the public.
Johnny,
I commend you and the board for looking at ways to include the public in the budget discussions!
People can find more information about the $100 budget process at http://www.osba.org/commsvcs/surveys/vnb/cominvol.pdf.
Necessity IS the mother of invention! It’s my belief, however, that in order to have this type of public input on the budget, we need someone who understands the budget. We need the public to understand the budget. Otherwise, this will be either an exercise in futility or (hopefully) an impetus driving a more transparent budget.