City Invites Residents to Participate in Budget Process

Redmond residents will have the opportunity to meet with their neighbors in coming weeks and talk about how they would like the city to spend their tax dollars.

City staff will kick off Redmond's "budgeting by priorities" process in late February and early March with a series of neighborhood meetings designed to gather resident input on what projects and services they would like emphasized during the 2013-2014 budget cycle.

The meetings will take place Feb. 23, March 1 and March 7 at . Each neighborhood will be represented on different dates (click here to see which one corresponds with your neighborhood), but residents can attend another neighborhood's meeting if they are unable to go to their neighborhood's session.

In the past, the city held one giant meeting at city hall to discuss the budget with residents, but officials decided it would be a good idea to try working with smaller groups this year. The three meetings will also serve as the city's annual neighborhood network meetings, which offer a wider discussion on neighborhood interests.

"We just truly hope that the community will come down and talk with us...and tell us their thoughts about the future," said senior city planner Kim Dietz.

The meetings will include an open-house style portion as well as small-group discussions centered on six different budget priorities: community building, clean and green, business community, infrastructure and growth, responsible government, and safety.

City staff will take all the input gathered at the three meetings and report back to the planning commission and city council. A budget team featuring city officials and one resident will then evaluate everything that's being considered for the budget and make recommendations to Mayor John Marchione sometime in July.

The mayor will then draft a budget, which will go to the city council in October. After a series of public budget hearings, the council will adopt a budget sometime in November or December.

City Finance Director Michael Bailey said he anticipates the size of 2013-2014 budget will be similar to this biennium, which saw a combined budget of $540 million for both operating and capital expenses.

For more information on the upcoming neighborhood meetings, check out this announcement from the city.