Budget Process

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
December to January	Engagement	Budget and Management Services hosts in-person and virtual listening sessions.
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. To engage in the FY26 budget engagement process, please attend a virtual or in-person listening session.