Lynnwood City Council incumbent Loren Simmonds faces challenger Shirley Sutton in the Nov. 3 general election. It is one of four Lynnwood Council positions on the ballot.
Simmonds and Sutton recently sent statements about what they think are the most important factors in writing or considering a city budget. Here they are, in the order their names will appear on the primary ballot and in the voters’ pamphlet:
Lynnwood Council Position #4:
Loren Simmonds: One of the most important responsibilities of the city council is to make good budget decisions when the biennial budget is adopted and at the mid-biennial review.
Several years ago, the Council adopted a formal process commonly known as “Budgeting for Outcomes.” Another name for essentially the same process is “Priorities of Government.”
The essential objective for both is to get the best results possible with the dollars we have. Stated differently, it is a structured process to help us link spending to results … and to continuously learn and improve results.
- In short, the Council goes through a multi-step process as outlined below:
- Identify and agree on citizen-based priorities
- Identify ALL available revenue
- Allocate revenue among the priorities
- Create “requests for results”
- Implement the budget including monitoring mechanisms
The real challenge in the budgeting process is twofold. The first is determining the citizens’ priorities. The second is deciding what priorities to fund and at what level to fund them. This is particularly true when available revenue/resources are not adequate to “buy” or “pay” for ALL desired priorities … which is most of the time.
The bottom line – the community has a price it is willing to pay for government services. Elected leaders have the task of setting the price so that it is acceptable and adequate to the community.
Shirley Sutton: As a council member, in building a city budget, transparency from the initial stage is paramount. Important factors in setting a city budget to meet the needs of the community, and keeping the city solvent may include expected revenue from taxes, licenses fees, expenditures and anticipated revenue.
The most important factors in setting a city annual budget are transparency, accountability, mastering the budget process, implementing the various state and federal laws governing financial management policies.
The factor of transparency is crucial in establishing trust between the mayor, council and community members. Creating ways to inform and educate the community around budget needs, revenue and expected expenditures assists with understanding reasons and communicate how and why decisions are made using language to help all understand the process.
The factor of accountability is important to determine if the monies approved were used correctly and measures the level of success. By establish benchmarks for continued monitoring of accomplishments by comparing year-to-year allows course correction, if needed.
The mayor and council members must master the budget process to maintain compliance and keep the city out of trouble by fairly implementing the local, state and federal guidelines required to legitimize the budget process. Keeping our constituents informed of the budget process allows their input and ideas to be considered and creates an understanding of the complexities of a city budget.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
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