Understanding the Budget Review process

The City Budget Review process is underway.  Below is the process for creating a budget for the city.  Meeting dates can be seen in a previous post.

At the bottom of this page (see link below) are links to past budgets including that for 2013-14.  The menu for the Finance Dept. has other information relating to the budget.  When the proposed budget for 2014-15 comes out in April, it might be good to compare them to see how things are different.  LORA Budgets are listed here also - another good read!  

For a review of last year's process, the City Manger (Tom Coffee) developed a package of good, better, best alternatives for each budget category after conferring with department managers.  This was an important document as it gave insight to what each department felt was essential to its functioning.  It is the document that comes closest to defining the Core Services of the city.

This Council, and the public, have expressed a desire to concentrate city resources on Core Services.  What does that mean?  Most can agree on the big things - maintaining current city streets before building new regional pathways is one.   But we might have bigger disagreements when it comes to cutting Parks & Rec programs that are enriching and desirable, but not essential to City functioning.   It is the Budget Committee's job to add and subtract from the list of competing wants and needs to come to some happy place we can all live with and that is fair to taxpayers rich and poor.

Note:  Besides clarifying what services were essential vs discretionary, the 2013-14 budget also separated the City's Reserve funds into separate funds.  This showed that many of the reserve funds were for dedicated expenditures and not available for the general fund.  What some people thought was an adequate reserve amount was quickly deflated to a sorry pittance.  Thanks to the Budget Committee (and to Dave Berg) who requested this information.

LORA (Urban Renewal) budgets are also available on the budget page.  (Does anyone besides the Budget Committee ever check these things?)

For a glance at last year's decision-making process, look here:  http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/boc_bc/calendarevents/18547/budget_committee_packet_4-25-13.pdf

For City budget website:
http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/finance/city-budget

The City Council adopts a budget that is basically the financial plan for the City, which incorporates the
5-year Capital Improvement Plan.  It forms the basis for budget appropriations and includes any revisions or adjustments made by the Budget Committee.

Any citizen who is interested in reviewing the budget may contact the Finance Department at City Hall. Copies of the budget are also available for review at the public Library.  The actual budget document contains extensive line details and is about an inch thick.

There are four significant steps in a budget process:

• April 2014 – The City Manager presents the Proposed Budget to the Budget Committee. This provides a starting point for discussions.
• April 24, 2014 – Budget Committee meeting scheduled for public review and consideration of the document. The Budget Committee is made up of the seven City Council members and seven non-elected citizens.
• In April and May, the Budget Committee deliberates on the Proposed Budget.
• May 2014 - The Budget Committee approves the Proposed Budget, which may include some amendments, for recommendation to the City Council.
• June 3, 2014 – The Adopted Budget. The City Council reviews and considers the Approved Budget, deliberates and, where they determine appropriate, makes further adjustments which are embodied into the Adopted Budget.
• July 1 – Implementation of the FY 2014-15 budget. The services and projects within the Adopted Budget are implemented.
   

The Budget Committee also reviews the LORA Budgets which are posted on a separate page.

For the Lake Oswego Redevelopment Agency (LORA) budget documents click here.