The task of developing the City’s budget for Fiscal Year 2018-2019, which begins July 1, is actually a six-month process that started back in December. That’s when City Manager Michael Peoples began working with the Financial Services Department, headed by Crystal Certain, to develop a timeline for the process. The process is governed by a North Carolina statute that requires a municipal budget be balanced and submitted to its governing board, the City Council, by June 1.
“Developing the City budget is the most critical work we do each year,” explained Peoples. “It establishes the fiscal framework for how we provide services. It’s our responsibility to develop and propose a budget that provides the necessary resources to staff to accomplish the goals established by the Mayor and City Council and to do it in the most cost-effective manner possible.”
A number of critical steps had to be built into the budget process. First, the city manager, assistant city managers and department heads met with City Council members in a Saturday retreat at the Gastonia Conference Center to get their direction on the City’s priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The departments then began developing their individual budgets to meet the City’s ongoing needs, keeping in mind the priorities outlined by Council. The budget office, led by Crystal Falls and assisted by Jessie Williams, prepares and maintains all of the budget documents used during the process: schedules, working spreadsheets and permanent records.
Departments had to submit their proposed budgets – revenues and expenditures – by January 31. Assistant City Managers Melody Braddy, Todd Carpenter, and Flip Bombardier met with each department head to discuss and review their budgets. After analyzing all of the budget information, the City Manager and ACMs huddled in a series of lengthy, in-depth meetings to evaluate the needs and requests and determine changes to balance the budget.
“The meetings are often lengthy and involved, but the process is transparent," Peoples said. "It allows for constructive discussion between the managers and department heads about existing initiatives as well as proposed ones, staffing levels, performance, effectiveness, efficiencies and funding sources.”
This month, the city manager will present the proposed budget to the City Council for review and any additional revisions. A public hearing, required by state statute, is scheduled for April 24.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2018-19 balanced budget is currently estimated to total more than $236.9 million. The final budget is scheduled to be adopted by Council on June 5 and will set the tax rate for the next fiscal year. For the seventh straight year, the City's tax rate will not increase.
Six months after the budget is approved and adopted by Council, the cycle starts all over again in December.