Making an early move to make sure next year’s county budget reflects their priorities, Snohomish County Council members said they will hold a half-day retreat early in April to talk about budget basics.
The council huddle comes in response to a new strategy for building the budget. Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has vowed to use a "priorities of government" approach in crafting the county’s 2005 spending plan.
The method means the budget will be built from scratch and will focus on funding the top things that government should be doing, rather than rolling over the budget from the previous year with built-in increases in spending.
"You focus on what are the outcomes you’re trying to achieve, and you fund them accordingly. You start at the top and work your way to the bottom," County Council Chairman John Koster said.
The council will hold a retreat April 2 to talk about priority-based budgeting and has asked several experts on the topic to give presentations.
Speakers will include state Auditor Brian Sonntag and Bob Williams of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. Marty Brown, Gov. Gary Locke’s budget director who helped the state adopt priorities-based budgeting last year, also has been invited.
"I think it’s important for the council to understand how budgets are put together under the priorities of government," Koster said. "The council needs to give this some serious thought."
"It’s going to get us thinking about what we believe our priorities of government are," he said.
A second meeting to discuss setting budget priorities is planned for April 7.
Reardon said he was gratified that the council is interested in the idea.
Last year, Snohomish County’s general fund budget — the pot of money that pays for basic government services such as the sheriff’s office, courts and parks — was roughly $162 million.
The move to a budget-based retreat comes on the heels of recent council talk about next year’s budget. Council members have said they’d like more time to make sure the budget reflects council priorities, but there aren’t many chances for changes when they get the draft budget at the end of September and only have until Thanksgiving to adopt a final budget.
"Frankly, we’ve had these budgets up here really, really late, with not enough time to have a really good dialogue," Koster said. "I’d like to be a little more proactive on the budget."
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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