The Fayetteville City Council is expected to get its first look at the proposed fiscal 2022-23 budget during its regular monthly meeting Monday night.
The council is also expected to schedule a public hearing on the proposed budget.
The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
City Manager Doug Hewett will present his proposed spending plan to council members. Details about the proposed budget and the city tax rate were not available ahead of the meeting.
“At this time I really can’t present any of the details about the recommended budget yet because we have not presented it to council,’’ said Kelly Olivera, the budget and evaluation director for the city. “Or made it available to the public, which will all happen on Monday.”
Olivera is expected to help Hewett with the budget presentation.
The council has planned three budget work sessions, should all three be necessary to help shape the financial plan into an approved workable budget. They are set for Thursday, June 2 and June 9 in City Hall.
The city is currently operating on a $240.3 million budget.
The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, and city management and staff work to develop a recommended budget from December through April each fiscal year. The budget is usually presented to the council in May for consideration. The budget has to be adopted by June 30.
Olivera said the proposed budget is “fairly consistent with previous years.”
According to Olivera, the budget process actually begins in September when there’s a kick-off capital and technology improvement plan. City staff looks at capital projects and technology improvement initiatives, and the city starts the review on what it is in the process of, what projects the city has finished and what projects are coming up.
It’s a five-year plan, Olivera said.
In December, she said, the staff begins looking into their annual operating funds for the coming fiscal year.
In February and March, meetings are held with Hewett so individual departments can submit their requests for the coming fiscal year. At the same time, Olivera’s staff is looking into revenues and how those are coming in.
The N.C. League of Municipalities provides guidance, Olivera said.
“We formulate our projections for revenues,” she said. “And tie up all requests for expenditures. And we see where we are with both of those as far as how close or far apart they are to matching each other.”
The public hearing on the proposed budget could be June 13.
The council also is expected to hear a first-quarter report from the Fayetteville Police Department.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com. Have a news tip? Email news@CityViewTODAY.com.
