The 2010-2011 fiscal year budgeting process is underway for the City of Portland. March marks the beginning of serious budget discussions by and between citizens and city staff.
Citizens get their first chance to sound off on the city budget during three community budget forums that are taking place this week. The first will be held tonight, March 1, at Montgomery Park (2701 NW Vaughn Street) from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The second forum will take place Wednesday, March 3, at Mt. Scott Community Center (5530 SE 72nd Avenue) from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The final forum will be held Saturday, March 6, at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s community space (10301 NE Glisan Street) from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Although the forums are being held in locations all over town, neighbors can attend any (or all) of the meetings.
“These budget forums are great because they serve a twofold purpose,” said Roy Kaufmann, communications director for Mayor Sam Adams. “First, the city gets the opportunity to present residents with an anticipated budget and walk them through the budgeting process. More importantly, the city gets the opportunity to hear feedback from the constituents on what they want to see in the budget.”
Don't miss your opportunity to provide feedback on the city budget.
The budget forums are the first tool citizens have to provide their input on the budget. While, obviously, promises can’t be made at the meeting, citizens are afforded the opportunity, or pointed in the right direction, to talk to the right person about their specific issue. Even Mayor Adams will be in attendance at most, if not all, of the forums. Plus, everything that is discussed will be recorded and the minutes of the meetings will be passed along to each city bureau.
“What citizens need to understand when they come to these forums is that they aren’t necessarily for complaint driven issues, because there are already ways of dealing with those things,” said Portland Office of Management & Finance representative, Judy Tuttle. “At these, we are looking for the bigger, long-term issues affecting policy, community safety and community standards. Think of it as neighborhood issues opposed to personal issues.”
A pothole that bugs you is an example of a complaint driven issue. Adjustments in the budget can't fix a specific pothole. But, if there is enough support for improvements to the roads within the city, and ample amount documented need for them, the city's general fund could be adjusted to include more dollars for road construction. Considering the city already has a hotline and iPhone app to report them [503.823.2867], the number of potholes within the city is already being recorded.
What's important to you?
These forums are great for bringing attention to derilict properties, public safety issues and the funding of community programs. Tuttle suggests that those with specific issues should come to the forum with as much detailed information as possible. Dates, times, locations, pictures and signatures of support, can all make a difference when presenting an issue of concern. Showing ample support for results produced by a specific program, or noting specific instances of crime that could have been avoided with additional services, can stand as hard evidence when deciding the budget.
While the pothole in front of your house might not get fixed immediately after one of these meetings, your involvement in them is critical. All the information gathered from these forums, the budget surveys, public testimony at city council meetings and the technical information gathered from all the bureaus, creates a trend of sorts for the mayor to follow when making his initial proposed budget to city council.
“At the mayor’s office we always try to do our best to gauge what the city expects and what the city is looking for,” said Kaufmann. “But the fact of the matter is that we can’t get an accurate and full understanding without all of this information.”
Public involvement in the budget process is more pertinent now than ever due to the economic climate. The Bureau of Financial Services is asking that each bureau provide a cut package of four-percent along with its proposed department budgets that will be discussed before city council starting March 8. The only exception to this is for general fund dollars centered on public safety. BFS is only asking two-percent cut packages from these departments.
Will the city budget reflect your priorities? Get involved in the process.
“It really is a tough budget environment right now because cuts do have to be made,” he said. “Programs and issues are going to have to be prioritized so that the city can focus on getting the most bang for its buck. In order to prioritize these things, we must get as much involvement as possible from both the public and bureaus.”
For those citizens who don’t understand the budgeting process, or are just plain intimidated by the fact that it is $2 billion, there are other city-sponsored opportunities to familiarize one’s self with the document and how it is put together.
These come in the form of Budget 101 and Budget 202 training workshops sponsored by the Citywide Budget Outreach team. The Budget 101 workshop is considered introductory. Each attendant is given a copy of the budget and the budgeting calendar. They are then walked through the basic steps that are taken to prepare the document and how it fits into the timeline.
The Budget 202 workshops are for those citizens who have a basic understanding of how the budget works but don’t know how to get involved in the process. The first ever Budget 202 workshop was held in late January. 15 participants received an extensive overview from Andrew Scott, manager of the financial planning division of the Bureau of Financial Services, on how the budget is put together, who does it, how bureaus come up with their budgets and how citizens can get involved in the process.
Which programs and issues are your highest priority?
“I believe the first Budget 202 workshop was really valuable for us and the people in attendance,” said Scott. “It allowed citizens time to ask questions about their specific concerns in an informal setting after hearing about how the budget is made. It was really productive.”
BFS has small grants for groups within the city that want to hold one of these events. Representatives of neighborhood associations, business alliances and other constituency groups can contact BFS about possibly holding one of these events for their group specifically. The grant helps with food and refreshments, while BFS provides a presentation, budget documents and knowledgeable staff to answer questions.
Individuals with a good grasp on budgeting and how the city goes about the process are strongly urged to join the City Budget Advisory Committee or one of the several Bureau Budget Advisory Committees. Although members of these committees don’t get to actually vote on the proposed budgets, they are designed to oversee the budgeting process and ask questions from a community member standpoint.
Considering the timeline of the process, and where they are at in it now, the city is currently looking to fill three of the five seats on the City Budget Advisory Committee. Training is provided for the selected committee members, and then they are required to sit in on all of city council’s discussions on the budget, including the extensive two weeks starting March 8 where the bureau representitives propose their budgets.
Your feedback could affect many lives.
“It is really up to the members of the committee to decide how involved they want to be in the process,” said Scott. “Sometimes it’s as little as asking questions and providing input from their part of town, while other times the committee actually constructs a budget proposal and recommendations to present to the council.”
Those interested in joining this committee need to understand that it is a large time commitment, especially over those two weeks, but even for the following few months. Also, the proposed bureau budgets are presented during the days, so time flexibility is essential. For more information on the committee, or to get the necessary documents to apply for a position, please visit the web site: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=37423&a=99395.
Although city council takes public comments on the budget at various council meetings and public hearings throughout the process, the abovementioned resources are specific and effective examples of how to have your voice heard. Plus, the forums are held early on in the process, so your opinion can be documented early, before the ball really gets rolling.
Once the council and the budget advisory committee hear the proposed bureau budgets, the mayor puts together a list of proposed budget decisions. This takes place at the end of April. After a round of criticism from city council and ample public testimony, the mayor puts together a final proposed budget that is voted on by city council at the end of May. That budget is then submitted to the Tax Supervising & Conservation Commission for recommendations and approval. Once approved by that organization, city council votes on the final document and it is adopted, usually in mid June.
How will your neighborhood be affected by the new budget? Get involved.
“The mayor is responsible for putting together a proposed budget that is fair and balanced,” said Kaufmann. “His goal is to get it passed unanimously by the council (like last year) and that can’t happen unless he gets as much information about what is going on around this city from the people that live there.”
For more information on the Community Budget Forums, please visit: http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.cfm?c=26061. Or, call the Office of Management & Finances at 503.823.5288.
Those who can’t attend any of the Community Budget Forums should fill out the “Your City, Your Choice” budget priority survey online by visiting: http://www.fmrsurvey.com/DHM/YCYC/YCYClogn.htm.
