07/27/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Mr. Holmer asked how the council will be able to judge the policy recommenda- tions without a financial perspective. Mr. Gleason said he is working from the assumption that the council wants to balance the budget over a six-year time period; that half of the money will come from revenues and half from cuts; that programs should be redesigned, if possible, and revenues should be focused on user fees; and that no additional services should be added. Mr. Gleason said he is also operating under the assumption that policy initia- tives are not appropriate for this process. In response to a question from Mr. Bennett, Mr. Gleason said staff will also draft a balanced budget that has no new major revenue sources. He said staff will most likely be able to present the council with a preliminary budget reading by November 1988. At that point, the council can determine whether the policy statements are realistic. Mr. Holmer asked what this will do to the overall budget review process. Mr. Wong said the council might be able to receive a budget in late April or May under the new proposal. Mr. Holmer asked where the Budget Committee will fit into the new process. Ms. Wooten said the has not heard any proposals that would change the Budget Committee's current role. Mr. Bennett said the council should define at the outset how much the policy decisions mean to the council. Ms. Wooten said this raises the same question that came up during the last budget process: is the council binding itself and the Budget Committee to the policy posi- tions? e Mr. Miller said policy setting is the job of the council, not the Budget Committee. Mr. Rutan said the Budget Committee would hopefully interpret the council.s policies as general guidelines. He said the Budget Committee will take the general policy statements and the specific budget dollars and recon- cile the two. He said the lay members of the Budget Committee will hopefully realize that the council has spent a Significant amount of time researching the budget policies. Ms. Wooten left the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Ms. Bascom questioned the level of detail that has traditionally been used with the Budget Committee. She suggested that staff bring back a proposal for improving the Budget Committee process. Ms. Ehrman said improving the process should be done with input from the whole Budget Committee. Ms. Thorne said the Budget Committee's role is difficult to determine until the process reaches the third stage. She summarized that the council has generally agreed on the level of specificity within the process, and that the role of the Budget Committee is still unresolved. She asked each councilor to state his or her feelings about the proposal. Mr. Rutan said he likes the process. Mr. Holmer expressed reservations about e MINUTES--City Council July 27, 1988 Page 7