Title
SUBSTITUTE - Requesting a report with recommendations from a Common Council President's Workgroup regarding improvements to the budget process.
Fiscal Note
Adoption of this resolution will have no fiscal impact beyond the commitment of available staff resources to support preparation of the required report.
Body
WHEREAS, the annual budget process has changed significantly over the past few years, including taking three evenings to complete; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council has taken a more active interest in the budget and has submitted more budget amendments than in past years; and
WHEREAS, the volume of amendments has caused meetings to run late into the night; and
WHEREAS, since the budget is one of the more important things that the Common Council does throughout the year, and decisions should not be made in the dark of night;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that a Common Council President's Workgroup, made up of 2 members of the Common Council Organizational Committee, 2 members of the Board of Estimates, the Common Council President or his appointee and up to two alternates should make recommendations to the Common Council on how to improve the budget process.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that recommendations to improve the process may include, but are not limited to, the following items:
a) Holding the department briefings on the budget before the full Common Council instead of before the Board of Estimates.
b) Holding the budget amendment process over a few weeks as opposed to a few days, possibly making amendments immediately after the night a department presents its portion of the budget.
c) Moving the amendment deadline up so that the public and alders have more time to consider the amendments.
d) Creating a process for amendments that are presented at the end of the budget process.
e) Limiting budget meetings to no longer than eight hours at a time.
f) Recommendations about the set-up of the room in which the budget meetings are held.
g) Recom...
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