04/28/11 - City Council Newsletter

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“Because of the hard work accomplished over the last few years to restructure the City organization and find efficiencies, we are able to ‘stay the course’ with this budget, even with a revenue forecast that is lower than expected,” said Ruiz. “Over the past two years, the City has reduced 80 staff positions and achieved $17 million in budget reductions by implementing cost-saving measures and reducing the overall footprint of our organization as we strive to live within our means. At the same time, we managed to minimize impact on community services, sustained few increases in service fees, minimized employee layoffs, and rebuilt a responsible budget reserve. We also continued to strategically invest in priority initiatives in public safety, human services, sustainability, downtown revitalization, and ambulance transport. The savings we achieved allow us to hold the budget at about the same level this year and avoid service cuts, while we watch the economy carefully and plan for our financial future.” As a result of its hard work to achieve savings, last spring the City projected financial stability through the six-year General Fund forecast period. However, over the past year, the financial landscape continued to change, resulting in an unanticipated FY12 General Fund budget gap mostly due to a decrease in property tax revenues. When the City’s executive team realized the gap in FY12 would be larger than predicted, they took action to under-spend FY11 budgets by $1 million to get a head start on closing the General Fund gap. The FY12 Proposed Budget includes an additional reduction of $2.2 million to department General Fund budgets. The increased reserves have helped to even out some long-anticipated ‘financial potholes’ such as PERS rate increases and the expiration of the Library Local Option Levy. The FY12 Proposed Budget document is now available at www.eugene-or.gov/budget. The budget includes more information about the General Fund situation as well as other funds. For a quick overview, read the City Manager’s FY12 Budget Message. The Budget Committee is scheduled to discuss the FY12 Proposed Budget at its upcoming meetings on May 10, May 11, May 17 and May 18. For more information, and to provide feedback on the proposed budget, visit www.eugene-or.gov/budgetcommittee. Community Learns about Small Dog Area Proposal in Amazon Park The Parks and Open Space Division held a public meeting on Wednesday, April 20, at Hilyard Community Center to involve community members in considering a change to the Amazon Park Master Plan. A group of concerned community members has proposed a separate enclosure for small dogs, in response to a series of violent, and sometimes deadly, encounters between large and small dogs at the existing dog park. The community group has proposed fundraising to cover the cost of both the construction and maintenance of the new facility if it is approved. Approximately 50 community members attended to learn about the proposal, the process for updating the master plan, how to provide feedback to the Parks and Open Space Division, and how public input would inform the process. A 45-minute staff presentation was followed by a half-hour of questions and answers. The majority of attendees came in support of the small dog area proposal, while other community members expressed concerns about the planning process, and pointed to other needs in the park that are not being addressed. Staff explained that public feedback on the proposal would be collected through a web survey, via the project webpage www.eugene-or.gov/smalldogs. The survey will be available through Friday, May 13. For more information, contact Parks and Open Space Planning Manager Neil Bjorklund at 541-682-4909 or neil.h.bjorklund@ci.eugene.or.us. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 April 28, 2011