City Council Agenda and Packet 2015 02 10 BUDGET

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SUBJECT: 2016 Goals and Program Budget – Special Meeting DATE: FEBRUARY 10, 2015 PAGE 2 OF 3 help achieve the goals and that may require resources over and above the base level budget or changes in the way the base budget is allocated. Does listing projects this way help Council better understand and evaluate what could be included in the Budget and provide sufficient opportunity to advocate for or against such projects? How will the Program Summary complement the Budget? Council Members, the public and staff have expressed interest in displaying the City's Budget in a different way— categorized into Programs —in an effort to make it easier to understand the services the City provides and to more effectively communicate the resources (people and funds) used to provide those services. On the other hand, many people (staff, Council Members and the public) are also used to and rely on the way the City's Budget is currently organized— around Funds, Departments, Cost Centers and activities. To address the interest in a Program format, without compromising the familiarity some have with the existing format, we intend to add this Program Summary as a new section of the budget document. It can help serve as an "Executive Summary" that makes it easier to understand —or to understand in a different way —the City's budget. Staff wants Council's and the public's comments on this new format. To help connect the Program Summary to the existing Budget we have also developed a draft "Budget Distribution by Program, Cost Center and Sub - Program ". This table reflects a "data- mining" approach to take the cost center data from the Budget and allocate it to the various Sub - Programs. This draft will need to be refined, but the intent is to provide information used to facilitate performance measurement. Budget Calendar The attached calendar lists the key dates for Council and formal public comments in the budget process. Staff asks Council members to review this calendar and advise us of any unavoidable conflicts. FISCAL IMPACT: Depends on direction from Council. RECOMMENDATION: Discuss the questions posed above and provide direction to staff on the proposed Programs, Goals, Sub - Programs, Key Indicators and the role of Potential Contributing Projects. Identify any unavoidable conflicts Council Members may have with the budget calendar and then reserve the key dates to minimize future schedule conflicts. CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION 3