The entire Budget Committee was there (that’s 11 people): City Council/Mayor, and the City Manager as our Budget Officer. There were both old and new appointed volunteer members, continuing or beginning their terms of office. As required, they elected a new Chair of the Budget Committee (congratulations to Jim Dopp), and then got down to business.
Each year the Budget Process unfolds (as per Oregon law), with the Budget Committee going over the proposed Manzanita City Budget for the upcoming year, presented by the City Manager. The initial meeting allows for new Committee members to continue their training by asking questions, making suggestions, etc. This year was no exception, and many of the Committee members’ questions helped those of us in the audience to better appreciate the complexities of municipal budgets, even for small towns.
Last year the Manzanita City Council adopted a budgetary methodology to guide Indirect Cost Allocation related to overhead in the budget. Refer to page 70+ of the proposed budget if you’re a budgetary hobbyist and want to delve deeper.
Thanks in large part to tactical actions by our city administration and City Council over the last few years, the city is in excellent financial shape. For example, Manzanita qualified for a $2.7million state grant for our water infrastructure upgrades recently due to this pre-planning.
The next step in examining the proposed budget will be a Budget Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 7 at 6pm. Public comments will be heard.
After this, there will be a special city council meeting on May 29, 6pm. where the proposed budget will be considered and adopted.
If you missed the Budget Committee meeting on April 30, you can listen to it here:
ci.manzanita.or.us/budget-committee/
(scroll down to April 30th 2024 2pm)