Legislative
The
City of Connell is a non-charter code city with a Mayor and Council
form of government. Mayor Gary Walton is the Chief Executive Officer
of the City. The five-member Council is responsible for all legislative
actions and policymaking for the City.
Budget
Process: An
annual budget which includes the financial planning and legal
authority to obligate public funds. Additionally, the budget
provides for significant policy direction by the City Council
to the staff and the community. As a result, the City Council,
Staff and public are involved in establishing the budget for
the City of Connell.
A
Policy Document: The budget functions as a policy
document in the decisions made within the budget and will "reflect
the general principles or plans that guide the actions taken
for the future." As a policy document, the budget makes
specific attempts to link desired goals and policy direction
to the actual day-to-day activities of staff.
An
Operation Tool: The budget of the City reflects
its operation. The activities of each City function and organization
have been planned, debated, formalized, and described in the
sections of the budget. The process will help to maintain an
understanding of the various operations of the City and how
they relate to each other and to the attainment of the policy
issues and goals of the City Council.
A Link with the General Public:
The budget provides a unique opportunity
to allow and encourage public review of City operations. The
budget describes the activities, future implications, and the
direct relationship to the citizenry.
A
Legally Required Financial Tool: The budget
is a financial planning tool, which has been its most traditional
use. In this light, the budget is a State law requirement of
all cities, as stated in Title 35A RCW. The budget must be adopted
as a balanced budget and must be in place prior to the expenditure
of any City funds. The budget is the legal authority to expend
public monies and controls those expenditures by limiting the
amount of the appropriation at either the fund or department
level. The revenues of the City are estimated, along with available
cash carry-forward, to indicated funds available. The staff
requests for appropriations comprise the disbursement side of
the preliminary budget.
In
short, the budget is a requirement of Washington State law. The
budget, as adopted, constitutes the legal authority for expenditures.
The City's budget is adopted at the fund level so expenditures
may not legally exceed appropriations at that level of detail.
The City's budget is generally amended once a year. All appropriations,
except operating grants and capital projects lapse at year end.
Unexpended resources must be reappropriated in the subsequent
period.
But
more than that, the budget process presents an interesting opportunity
to reassess plans and overall goals and the means for accomplishing
them. It's through this effort that the budget is the single most
important policy document produced each year. Much effort is expended
to ensure the budget plan will achieve the goals and objectives
of the City Council. City Schedule Council Meetings: 7:00 pm the first Wednesday and third Monday of the month Court: 1:30 pm the second Monday of the month Park Board: 6:00 pm the last Tuesday of the month Planning Commission: 5:30 pm the first Monday of the month
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