EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY	CONTACT
June 14, 2012	Jeri Rowe-Curtis 425-556-2427

Redmond, WA –  The City will host the first public hearing on the 2013-2014 biennial budget this Tuesday, June 19th at 7:30 at Redmond City Hall during the regular city council meeting. Two additional hearings are planned for October and November.

The City uses a citizen-centric budget process called Budgeting by Priorities (BP) that matches budget proposals to six community identified priorities: Vibrant Business Community, Clean and Green Environment, Community Building, Responsible Government, Infrastructure /Growth and Community Safety. The City adopted the BP process in 2008 making this the third time it has been used.

“City staff and citizens kicked off Redmond's Budgeting by Priorities process in late February 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,” stated Michael Bailey, Finance and Information Services Director.

The goal of the first public hearing is to collect further community input about city issues, priorities and fiscal matters before the budget drafts are developed and to provide further information about the BP process. Key issues for the budget include maintaining services as the economy continues to rebound; aligning city spending with the vision of the community (e.g. infrastructure improvements in the Downtown, Overlake and in Redmond neighborhoods); continuing to make improvements in the way the City does business (e.g. focus on customer service, measuring performance, monitoring efficiency); and ensuring that we maintain the quality of the public facilities that our community has already invested in such as roads, parks, utility systems and buildings. "We truly hope the community will join us to tell us their thoughts about the future," said Councilmember John Stilin.

The Mayor’s Preliminary budget will go to the city council in October. Following a series of public budget hearings, the council will adopt a budget sometime in late November or December.

More information: www.redmond.gov/bp









                                       
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