Well, it's that time of year again. The city council finance committee, which I chair, will be considering the budget for next year. If you want to see the exact proposal the finance committee members received on September 27 (plus a few extra reports), you may download it here.
2009 City of Brookfield Proposed Budget (256 pages, 5.8M)
This year's budget cycle is:
-
In May, the aldermen set some goals for the budget. That mostly means stating the maximum amount of money they will approve. There are limits set by the state for both spending and property tax increases. Those limits are not exactly known at this date since they are partially based on inflation for the entire year, new construction and last minute changes in state law.There also have to be some guesses on interest rates, both as income on the city's reserve funds and for borrowing.
-
The mayor and staff spend the summer figuring out what it will cost to do the usual plus any new requests for service from aldermen or residents or as stated in the bi-annual strategic plan. That may include looking for new vendors, eliminating programs that aren't working out, etc. The idea is that the people who do all the day to day work are best equipped to figure out what it costs to provide services.
-
In October (well, September 27 this year) the finance committee receives the proposed budget with the requests from all the departments. Since the mayor was guiding the staff all summer long in its preparation, the proposal has implied mayoral approval.
-
[October 2, 8 and 13] The finance committee meets for 3 or 4 evenings to hear presentations from the mayor and staff. At the last meeting the committee might modify the budget proposal until it gets committee approval.
-
[November 18] There is a public meeting where anyone can comment on the budget.
-
[November 18] The full council votes on the budget. At that time, any alderman can propose anything, spending or cuts. The final result is a budget approved by a majority of the alderman.
-
The staff spends early December merging the approved city budget with final estimates of state aid, etc. and prepares the property tax bills. The tax bills are mailed out.
-
Merry Christmas.
All of the finance and council meetings listed here are open to the public. The public may listen but there is no question and answer period. If you do have questions, there are people around after the meeting who will help or you may call city hall later.
Over the next few weeks I plan to write a few columns about how the process is going. I may ask for some guidance on particular issues that came up. Stay tuned.
