End of Budget Saga?
So maybe the FY 2009 budget, with amendments, will finally be passed Monday.
The public has been hard put to pay attention to the budget process this year, what with shifts in administrative staff, flak from the citizens' advisory committee and confusion over roles in the budget process.
The traditional process calls for departmental requests that are then modified by the administration, then sent to the City Council for the final say.
So how come City Council President Rashid Burney was unaware of how the amendments got formulated? Clarification: Council President Burney explains that he was asking the question for the sake of the citizens who could not properly ask at that moment. See comment below. Was it that the state budget disarray that contributed to the city budget delay?
Plaintalker previously reported on the amendments in this post.
Very few people turn out for budget hearings. If in case you are inclined to go , the meeting is 8 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.
The special working meeting on Information Technology, originally scheduled for 8 p.m. at another site, will now follow the budget hearing.
--Bernice Paglia
The public has been hard put to pay attention to the budget process this year, what with shifts in administrative staff, flak from the citizens' advisory committee and confusion over roles in the budget process.
The traditional process calls for departmental requests that are then modified by the administration, then sent to the City Council for the final say.
So how come City Council President Rashid Burney was unaware of how the amendments got formulated? Clarification: Council President Burney explains that he was asking the question for the sake of the citizens who could not properly ask at that moment. See comment below. Was it that the state budget disarray that contributed to the city budget delay?
Plaintalker previously reported on the amendments in this post.
Very few people turn out for budget hearings. If in case you are inclined to go , the meeting is 8 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.
The special working meeting on Information Technology, originally scheduled for 8 p.m. at another site, will now follow the budget hearing.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 5:12 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Bernice,
I commend your dedication to every little detail. Your ability to scan a budget document and pick out every little detail that is not perfect whould put you in the Auditor's Hall of Fame. Certainly if there was one, I would nominate you.
Most of the time, when I ask a question, it is because I do not know the answer. Why ask it otherwise?
Well, sometimes when I ask a question it is really for the benefit the audience. I am asking a question that a member of the public, unable to speak at that moment in time might ask if they are allowed to speak. I want to make sure that those at home watching on TV, and those in attendence understand what we are doing (to the extent possible). Such was the line of questioning that evening when I led Marc through a series of questions. I wanted to make sure everyone understood where these came from - specially the audience. The meeting where we decided these changes was one of those busy evenings, and people had to choose between school board, HPC and Council Budget meeting. The Council Budget meeting lost that - we had zero in our audience. The Council was notified of the changes we had agreed to and had previously been notified of the admin changes. What changed were the actual numbers, and a couple of minor changes - and they were explained at the meeting.
Anyway, hope that adds clarity to the issue.
I wonder if any of the local auditing firms are hiring? Hmmm maybe Obama should hire you to look over Wall Street's reports.
Rashid Burney
Council President
OK, next time I see $184,266.20 rendered as $1,847,299.20 or $560,000 as $5,600,000 on a budget document,I'll just keep my mouth shut.
Again how do you think the average city worker can figure out what the council really wants the staff to do, when the council has to ask questions of what it is doing !!
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