When Aaron Reardon was campaigning for the job of Snohomish County Executive, he outlined a plan to revamp the county budgeting process over the next three years.
On Wednesday, April 7 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lynnwoood, the now-elected Reardon told the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce that the plan is the same, except that it “must complete it this year.”
Reardon said his plan is based on the concept of priority-based budgeting rather than starting from previous year’s spending plan.
Reardon said the idea has the full support of the County Council, an assertion acknowledged later by Council member Gary Nelson, R-Edmonds. “We support it,” Nelson said. “The Council actually wanted to do this before but were unable to get it done in time.
“We can get this done.”
Reardon said the county faces a serious potential fiscal crisis next year and again in 2006.
“Faced with a projected $16.6 million budget deficit in the County’s 2005 budget, we’ve chosen to conduct a top-to-bottom review of everything county government does,” he said.
The budget process will involve citizen input, then the county issuing proposal requests, much like it does for outside service contracts. County departments will submit service and funding proposals and compete for available funds. This is my favorite part,” Reardon said.
The department proposals will be reviewed by a citizens panel before being incorporated into his 2005 budget, Reardon said. South Snohomish County members of that group include former state Sen. Jeannette Wood of Woodway and Eric Earling of Edmonds, he said.
Edmonds City Council member Mauri Moore asked Reardon how city priorities would be considered. He said specific groups, such as chambers of commerce, will also be consulted and that he is meeting with local government officials.
Pointing to Lynnwood Mayor Mike McKinnon in the audience, Reardon said, “Mike and I sat down in January and identified a whole host of issues.”
Reardon also unveiled a new component of his government accountability plan, a web-based tool called Snostat.
He said the first phase allows citizens to track whether departments are meeting established benchmarks. Performance data from the departments of Corrections, Public Works and Planning and Development are now available on the Snohomish County website, www.co.snohomish.-wa.us, he said.
Additional phases will be brought on-line by July 2004 and early 2005, he said.
Reardon outlined a number of accomplishments in his first 100 days in office, including: implementation of The Boeing Co./7E7 agreement, the creation of an Executive Law and Justice Task Force, the appointment of a high-ranking planning official to oversee agriculture efforts, and the wooing of a NASCAR speedway.
Reardon said a Snohomish County proposal has been delivered to NASCAR officials in Florida and that the documents would be made public early next week.
A major part of Reardon’s budget plan is to foster economic growth in the county. In January, he appointed a 19-member “Citizens Cabinet” charged with preparing an economic development action plan for the county. Reardon said the group is on schedule to produce a report in late July.
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