A Citizen’s Guide
to the 2009-2010 Budget

Designing a city budget is a mighty undertaking, one that requires a great deal of effort, a large allocation of time and – done right – careful ordering of priorities and considerable input from citizens.

In Seattle, the mayor has the responsibility for drawing up a proposed city budget. After hearing from city departments, the mayor refines department requests and delivers a proposed budget to the City Council in late September. The council then examines the mayor’s proposals in detail, measures expenditures against the council’s stated priorities and, finally, every two years brings forth a biennial budget.

The budget must balance – expenditures matching expected revenues – and it must be done by December 1.

The council approves the first year’s budget and endorses a second year’s budget. In so-called "little budget" years, the council reviews and makes adjustments to the budget drawn up in the prior "big budget" year.

It sounds daunting and it is. In fact, examining, considering, reordering, adjusting and overseeing the budget takes the better part of two months. Other council business is generally put on hold until the budget is approved.

It is, without a doubt, THE most important work the council undertakes.

In a city the size of Seattle, the budgetary document is the size of a metropolitan phone book. But, for those who care about policy, it is a candid picture of the city’s priorities and a roadmap for the future.

Passage of a budget is so important that, ideally, it should involve the citizenry. It works best if it takes a village, enlisting citizens, elected officials and council staff and analysts.

The city’s budget process was the focus of a Citizens Budget Conference held Feb. 10 at the Seattle Center. The nuts and bolts of the process kicked off the discussion, but also highlighted were departmental panels and a dialogue about "how to make the budget work for you."

Click here for some of the tips from councilmembers who spoke at the conference about the best way to affect the budget.

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Seattle, WA
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Seattle, WA 98124-4025

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