Outcomes of Council's Three Special Budget Meetings

The Gist:

Ashland City Council passed adjustments to the second year of our two-year budget that:

·        Improve emergency management and communications

·        Add significant funding to our Emergency Reserve Fund

·        Support our efforts to further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

·        Protect the City from cyber threats

·        Help the City move forward with determining the future of the Ashland Fiber Net

·        Make it easier for residents and developers to navigate our planning processes

Council agreed to a general vision and values statement for our community and provided direction to staff to investigate our options for using surplus city property to further our community goals around affordability, childcare, climate action, and open space.

Commission structure was discussed and a new structure for commissions is under consideration by the Council.

The Details

The Ashland City Council held three special meetings in May and June primarily to discuss the financial challenges in the General Fund and make mid-budget adjustments for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The meetings also covered several other topics, including finalizing the vision and values statement for our community, deciding on potential uses of surplus property, and adjusting our commission structure.

I am excited to see that Council took action to add resources to emergency management (including communications), our work to further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and our efforts to ensure that we are keeping up with cyber threats and determine the future of the Ashland Fiber Network.

I am also excited to see that there is Council agreement that we should look at our surplus property to see whether there are potential uses for affordable housing, childcare, solar, and open space. Staff will come back to Council with options for each of the four properties discussed at the meetings.

I am also pleased that we heard our businesses at the recent Business Roundtable and are putting resources into our Community Development (planning) Department to help residents and developers move through the planning process more efficiently while strengthening our focus on customer service.

The PowerPoint presentation from May 23-24 meetings is here and the PowerPoint presentation from the June 14 meeting is here.

The Vision Statement drafted by City Manager, Joe Lessard, and edited by Council brought together language from several documents already in place at the City. It reads:

“Ashland is a resilient, sustainable community that lives within its means and maintains the distinctive quality of place for which it is known.

We will continue to be a unique and caring city that stresses environmental conservation, fosters artistic expression, and is open to new ideas and innovation.

We will plan and direct our efforts to fulfill this Vision for the long-term with a constant view toward being an open, welcoming community for all with a positive economic future.”

Values that support this Vision include:

Community

·        Community affordability, including in available housing and childcare

·        Belonging through mutual respect and openness, inclusion, and equity

·        Quality of life that underpins the City’s economic vibrancy

·        Environmental resilience, including addressing climate change and ecosystem conservation

·        Regional cooperation, including in support of public safety and homelessness

Organization

·        Respect for the citizens we serve and the work we do

·        Excellence in governance and city services

·        Sustainability through creativity, affordability, and right sized service delivery

·        Public safety, including emergency preparedness for climate change risk

·        Quality infrastructure and facilities through timely maintenance and community investment

The City Council accepted the proposal by Mr. Lessard that made the following budget changes for the upcoming year:

Expenditure Reductions*: $715,000

Vacancy Savings**: $780,000

Budget Adjustment***: $1,350,000

            Expense Adjustments:

·        Emergency Operations Center Officer                                     $140,000

·        Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Assessment and Training    $40,000

·        Innovation and Technology Officer                                            $40,000

·        Planning and Development Facilitation                                   $120,000

Allocation of General Fund Beginning Fund Balance****: $2,600,000

Addition to Emergency Reserve: $1,715,000 

*Expenditure reductions were made in the budgets for the City Council, Municipal Court, Administration, Human Resources, Finance, Community Development, Public Works, and Parks & Recreation.

**Vacancy savings comes from budgeting less than full payroll for the year given that every year there is some savings due to vacancies across the City. This number accounts for half of the average vacancy savings for the year.

***We are seeing stronger revenues from the Transient Lodging Tax and property tax than expected. Remember, when we did our biennial (two-year) budget, we were in the throes of Covid and felt it prudent to budget very conservatively. Our visitor economy is leading the state in recovering post-pandemic.

****Each time the City creates a budget, it has to estimate how much the beginning fund balance will be for the new budget. If the estimate is lower than what actually happens, we can allocate the difference in the current budget. Our careful management of the budget has created an additional $2.6 million that we can allocate in this budget cycle, which allows us to add $1,715,000 to our Emergency Reserve Fund.

Thank you for reading this post. If you have thoughts, questions, or suggestions, please email me at: tonya@council.ashland.or.us. You may also sign up on the frontpage of my website to receive notifications when I publish future blog posts.