Budget Process

The budget represents a fiscally conservative and prudent approach to developing a City-wide spending plan.  Each December, City Department Leaders submit their estimates of revenues and expenditures to the Finance Director.  The Finance Director consolidates the information and presents it to the City Manager who must submit to the City Council a balanced annual budget for the next fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) and assists in developing a proposed budget to be delivered to the Finance Committee.

After interviewing Department Leaders and scrutinizing the entire budget, the City Council holds a Public Hearing to obtain input from the public.  Within 20 days after the last Public Hearing, after giving due consideration to the input received from the citizens, the Council must adopt the budget.  The Mayor is afforded a line-item veto within 5 days of the adoption of the budget; the City Council may override any veto by a two-thirds vote of the entire body.  Within 10 days of adoption, the tax rate must be set and the budget is legally enacted through passage of an ordinance.

Current budget documents are now available online.