Live Updates: City of Alameda Budget Planning Meeting
Below are reverse-order notes taken during the meeting (to start at the beginning of the discussion go to the bottom and scroll up)
9:38 p.m. The meeting is adjourned.
9:36 p.m. Council is discussing the problem of deferred maintenance and low reserve funds. City Manager Russo says that raising service fees to be on par with neighboring communities will be an important source of revenue.
9:34 p.m. Russo says staff plans to use this coming year to close the structural deficit, which projects out to be a $3.4 million gap in the 2015-16 fiscal year. "We are going to do it [close the structural deficit] with a combination of revenue and cuts, we're not going to do all cuts," Russo says.
9:31 p.m. City Manager Russo thanks city staff for their work on tonight's presentation. He also thanks City Auditor Kennedy and City Treasurer Kearney for their work tonight and in the past. He says the council is well positioned to do the hard work in front of them.
9:27 p.m. Councilmember Tam says many community organizations are working in different ways to help continue to provide services in difficult budget times, including at the library, Mastick Senior Center and the Alameda Animal Shelter.
9:22 p.m. Mayor Gilmore says the budget challenge, in which everyone can tinker with budget line items using an online program, will be "a really good tool for understanding priorities."
9:18 p.m. Mayor Gilmore thanks city staff for their work on the budget. She says the presentation is far easier to follow and understand than in the past. "This is the best I've seen in years," she said, "so congratulations to all of you."
"We do need to make structural changes to our budget," says Gilmore, "since we're all in this together we need to talk to our bargaining units and have a discussion about how we're going to get through this together."
9:16 p.m. "We will do everything we can to bring you a balanced budget that does not rely on reserves," says Goldman, noting the city is using one-time funds in the current fiscal year.
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