Proposed City Budget Presented February 22

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, City Manager Bob Sisson will present the proposed annual City Budget. Like recent years past, this budget will be a tough one as we still recover from the recession. The City though is quite fortunate in that housing prices seemed to have stabilized, sales are up and we continue to see interest from businesses who want to come and invest in the City.

The City has a tradition of open dialogue with the community on how it spend taxpayer dollars. I encourage citizens to participate in the budget process and offer ideas as well as feedback on your budget.

Here is the schedule for outreach meetings and other proceedings as we move toward adoption of the budget on April 28.

http://fairfaxva.gov/News/News.asp?656

The city’s annual budget is an important and revealing document. It reviews the city’s financial state and details how the city plans to collect and spend money during the next fiscal year.

To facilitate public participation in the City of Fairfax annual budget process, the City Council will hold meetings, work sessions and public outreach meetings to discuss the issue and listen to public comments.

On February 22, City Manager Bob Sisson will present the city government’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-12.

The City Council will discuss the budget at the following sessions:

* March 15 community outreach meeting and City Council work session
* March 16 City Council work session
* March 22 City Council meeting (public hearing)
* March 29 community outreach meeting and City Council work session
* April 5 City Council work session
* April 12 City Council meeting (public hearing), work session
* April 28 City Council meeting - budget adoption

The public may address the City Council during the public hearings at City Council meetings. At work sessions, the public is invited to listen to the discussions, but there are no hearings during which the public may address the City Council.

Additionally, the City Council invites the public to offer their insights, ideas and opinions regarding the proposed budget at the community outreach meetings listed above.

The above meetings, work sessions and public outreach meetings will be held in the City Hall Annex. Most meetings are scheduled to begin at 7 pm — except for the work sessions on March 15 and March 16, which are scheduled to begin at 6 pm.

These dates are subject to change, and additional meetings may be scheduled as needed.

The final budget will be adopted at the April 28 City Council meeting. (Please note that that date falls on a Thursday.)

The budget will be implemented July 1, which is the beginning of the city’s fiscal year.

City Council meetings and work sessions are shown live and replayed on Cityscreen-12, the city’s television station, available on the city's website and on cable television channel 12. Meetings and work sessions are shown live and replayed on television, and are available for Web viewing via videostreaming the following business day.

For information, or for copies of the proposed budget (which will be available at the February 22 City Council meeting), call 703-385-7864.

The proposed budget message also will be posted on the city’s website after the February 22 presentation.