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Home: City Manager's Updates Posted August 22, 2008 2009
Proposed Budget The 2009 proposed budget process is behind us. The final action will be filing the documents with the Geary County Clerk on Monday, August 25th. The development of the budget starts each year for the City staff in the preceding December and ends when the City Commission approves the budget in late August. This year we added several features to receive citizen input on the proposed budget. The process started with neighborhood meetings in April, a work session hearing with department heads in May and several public sessions in June and July. In addition, all of the meetings were televised on the City’s government access channel. We had an overflowing crowd at several of the sessions. Each year, behind the scenes, the City staff are reviewing and making recommendations on ways we can deliver our services at lower cost. The 2009 proposed budget is a 1.3% increase over 2008 if you remove the $2.5 million budgeted for incentives to new industries and approximately $900,000 for two new funds that have been added in 2009. These funds are the Rural Housing Incentive District Fund for the Bluffs and the new Stormwater Management Fund. The modest increase results in a .87 mill levy increase-- the first mill levy increase for the City in over 9 years. I want to share with you some actions that happen on a regular basis in the execution of our annual budget. We recently realigned the Recreation Department to eliminate a secretary. Secretarial duties are shared by the Customer Service Department and the City Manager’s Secretary. We created a secretarial pool in 2007. The City Manager’s Secretary handles the duties for seven different department heads. We are currently reviewing the in which we deliver our codes and engineering services, along with reviewing cultural arts and recreation. Our pledge each year is to find new cost effective ways of delivering services to our citizens. Thank you to each person that participated in the process. We will begin implementation of the new budget in January, 2009.
As the City Commission completed the 2009 proposed budget, they eliminated several jobs. These include the Fire Marshall, Codes Inspector, and Public Relations Director. Each of these positions has dedicated individuals serving in that capacity. The Fire Marshall will move to become a Battalion Chief, the Codes Inspector will potentially move to a vacant position within the City. The only person be laid off is the Public Relations Director, Carol Gould. Carol and her company, HK & Associates, has worked for the City for a number of years. They have developed wonderful avenues to get the word out about the City of Junction City organization. They do not duplicate the efforts of the Geary County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Carol develops brochures on City programs. She writes press releases, develops the City’s annual legislative agenda. Carol has organized the City’s day at the legislature the last two years. She handles development of the City’s website and produces the “Mike & Mick Show” for the web. Carol has helped the City to receive national recognition for our “Discovery Days” program in the Recreation Department, for our “Blight Team” program in the Police Department and most recently for our “Spin City” facility. Carol took our “Come Home to Junction City” campaign and created an image for our organization that will be used for years to come. She upgraded our logo and standardized business cards, letterhead and all documents used by the staff. Carol instituted an annual report that provides information on each department’s accomplishments. She instituted regular neighborhood meetings for the City Commission and coordinates and facilitates the annual City Commission retreat and Department Head retreat. Carol started the City’s “Citizen’s Institute in 2007. With the reduction, we will eliminate some of the programs, reassign some of the tasks to existing staff and hopefully develop some new partnerships that can help us get the word out about our organization. One thing is certain--Carol’s program has made a major difference on how our colleagues across the state and the nation view the City of Junction City local government organization. For that effort, we will always be eternally grateful. My next update will focus on the efforts of Fire
Marshall Richard Ross.
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