Published March 28 2018
During an offsite workshop Monday, the City Council received a general briefing on the 2019-20 budget process, the General Fund forecast and longer range financial information, Utilities financial policies and rates forecast, and the timeline. The meeting, held at the city’s Public Safety Training Center, touched on a number of topics from the recent budget survey results to the Capital Investment Program (CIP). Given the early stages of the budget process, no actions were taken.
The briefing included a short look at Bellevue’s recent budget survey results. The city has conducted the survey on a biennial basis since 1998. The goal is to accurately capture community priorities so they can inform the budget process. The 2018 results largely mirror past years with improved mobility, public safety and healthy environment being identified as top resident priorities.
Bellevue’s budget is produced every two years and includes a seven-year capital budget. It serves as a major policy document and describes how the city intends to finance its services and infrastructure. As part of the process, Bellevue uses a “budgeting for outcomes” (also known as “priorities of government”) process called "Budget One" to develop the budget. This model puts the emphasis on community expectations for government services, as opposed to individual departments within the organization.
Moving forward, there will be a number of opportunities for residents to provide feedback. The council will hold three public hearings in June, July and November. Residents can also provide input during oral communications at any future council meeting.
The city manager will present a proposed budget to the council in October. Councilmembers will then review and approve the general and capital projects budgets sometime before the end of the year.
The full workshop will be available for watching online later this week. More details on the upcoming budget process are available in the council agenda materials as well as on the Finance Department webpages.
3/29/18 UPDATE: The workshop video is now posted.