City Council will meet Tuesday, March 8, at 6 p.m. as it begins a department-by-department review of the proposed budget submitted by Interim City Manager Ken Larking. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in the fourth floor conference room at the Municipal Building.
The proposed budget is for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The departments under review at the meeting will be community development, transportation, information technology, and finance. Also under review at the meeting will be the budgets for City Council, the city manager’s office and constitutional officers.
Other departmental budgets are scheduled for review on March 15, March 22 and March 29.
Under the working draft as submitted by Larking, municipal services and programs will remain at current levels with no increases in real estate, meals and lodging taxes.
The proposed budget includes a utility rate study recommendation for an increase in electric rates. The bill for the typical residential customer would increase by $2.43 a month. Gas, water and wastewater rates will remain unchanged.
Public hearings will be scheduled later in the budget process. Final adoption must take place no later than June 30. The final budget will serve as a blueprint for city operations from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017.