Council gears up for annual budget retreat
September 2, 2010
By Staff
The City Council’s annual budget retreat is from 1-8 p.m. Sept. 7 in the Muirfield Room at The Golf Course at Newcastle and is open to the public.
Topics include the city’s financial state, budgeting strategies, staff reorganization, changes to city staff salary and benefits, possibly transferring city-owned parks to private ownership, levels of service and revenue sources. It will also examine the city’s tax base relative to other cities.
Director of Finance Christine Olson gave the council a five-year revenue forecast at its Aug. 17 meeting to review prior to the budget retreat. She presented optimistic, pessimistic and most likely scenarios.
The most likely scenario calls for a 1-percent to 2-percent increase in revenue each year until 2013, when she forecasts a 4-percent increase as part of an economic upswing.
However, Olson noted that the city has little space left for development, which is problematic, as the city has historically sustained itself on development revenue. Thus, her forecast calls for meager development revenue.
On the web
Read Director of Finance Christine Olson’s five-year financial forecast at www.ci.newcastle.wa.us, in the Aug. 17 City Council agenda packet, under the “City Records” tab.
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