KALAMAZOO (WKZO) — Dozens of Kalamazoo residents were there when the city launched a brand new way of creating a city budget, from the ground up.
Those who attended the meeting at the St. Joseph Catholic Church Gymnasium Wednesday evening were introduced to the Priority Based Budgeting concept.
The process will be employed through the spring, summer and fall months to help city leaders refine what the community’s priorities are and how to realign their shrinking revenue pool to maintain the programs and services that are most important to local residents.
Everyone participated in an exercise to begin generally refining the categories, and the first finding was that most people still want it all. That’s just one of the pressures the city faces.
The great recession and reliance on the property tax has left Kalamazoo with deficits in the future as far as the accountants can project.
Its either going to take higher taxes or fewer services and right now the City plans to take hard looks at both options. A special citizens task force is being formed to look at the revenue side.
Last night’s community meeting was the first of many events and only one of the formats they will use to figure out how to balance the books while maintaining the community.
The process began last month when the city put a website online where citizens can participate in the process. They also plan more community meetings around the city and focus groups to gather input.
It will all result in a budget plan that will not only be based on the staff’s best guesses but the public’s real input at the end of the year.
