Budget Process

Timeline and public input for annual budget and capital improvement plan


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Budget Timeline Your Input Matters for the City Budget Questions?

Putting together the City of Raleigh's annual operating budget and five-year Capital Improvement Program is a collaborative process between the public, departments, and the City Council.

Budget Timeline

FY24 budget timeline

City departments work on the budget year round. Key dates and milestone are featured below. The process includes a public hearing, Budget Communities Priority Survey, and City Council work sessions. 

Date
Range
Phase Description 
October - November Engagement Budget engagement efforts kick off early, with in-person and virtual listening sessions. From there, residents can vote on how to spend $1 million in capital funding, or $200,000 per district.
December to January

Budget Development

Budget and Management Services (BMS) staff reviews input from listening sessions and the survey to vote on projects. BMS staff recaps engagement themes and priorities and comes up with a recommended plan to take to City Council for funding priority projects from the survey.

Departments work on aligning their upcoming year budget requests with the Cities needs and priorities. Departments are reviewing their goals and the City's goals to ensure that resources align with community expectations.

Departments also work on new programs during this time. These new programs meet a need that is in the community or address an area of service improvement. These requests for new resources go to the Budget and Management Services Department and City Manager's Office for review. 

February to April

Budget Review 

Budget and Management Services staff work with the City Manager’s Office and City Council to finalize the recommendations that make up the budget.

Budget Work Sessions happen during this time and provide Council the opportunity to provide feedback before the manager’s proposed budget presentation in May.  

May - June

Budget Proposal, Public Hearing &
Budget Adoption

At the second Council meeting in May, the city manager provides Council with their proposed and balanced budget. The proposal includes any fee or tax increases, new funding requests, and capital improvement projects. 

A public hearing on the proposed budget is typically held at the first Council meeting in June. 

The Council meets each week in June as they deliberate and request additional information on the proposed budget. The Council must adopt a budget by June 30.

Your Input Matters for the City Budget

Budget and Management Services led a lot of community engagement around the FY25 budget starting in October 2023.

The City hosted several  in-person and virtual listening sessions with the community to pilot a new engagement approach for the City. We  asked residents for input on items like transportation, housing, parks, and the environment.  The sessions were followed by a survey where residents could vote on how to spend $1 million in capital funding, or $200,000 in each district. 

Check out the full engagement recap. The City values each and every resident's input and we look forward to more participatory efforts to come.

Questions?

We’d love to hear from you!
Contact the Budget and Management Services Department at 919-996-4270 or email us.

Contact

 

Questions?

CONTACT 

Sadia Sattar
Director

919-996-4270

Address
Raleigh Municipal Building
222 W. Hargett St., Ste. 311
Raleigh, NC 27601

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Lead Department:
Budget and Management Services

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