Almost every week this is the "What's on the city council's plate this week" review. I don't cover everything, so if you want the full rundown, read the packet and agenda yourself.

Will there be a ballot issue in 2008 to raises taxes or fees citywide?

This week on the council, they're going to talk about where they go now in terms of how they plan out the long term financial strategy of the city. Since 1999 the city has been getting input from folks on where the city should go.

Cut services? If so which ones? Raise taxes? If so, how much?

Here is a pretty chilling list of options and facts for the council to consider in the coming months when they decide whether to ask city residents for more (from the staff report):

• There are several options for a levy lid lift some require going to voters in the Primary or General election.
• On a state wide basis more voters approve a Fire issue than anything else. Jails and streets issues are the least successful.
  More issues pass in the month of March than any other month (May is the least successful). Typically you don’t want to go to the voters any more frequently than every 2 years,
• In all of our citizen surveys, Parks and Public Safety ranked very high. In the recent focus group 90% said they would support a tax increase to renovate Percival Landing and 68% to build a 4th fire station.
• One outcome from the September focus group was our Voters are not willing to support a tax increase for transportation projects.
• An excess levy requires 60% voter approval and a levy lid lift requires only 50%.
  What effect do rate increases for utilities, TBD, and impact fees have on citizens’ willingness to support other issues?
• In addition to excess levy and levy lid lifts, the City has available an increase to the Business & Occupation tax and Transportation Benefit Districts (TBD). Should be committee recommend these funding options?
• What is the effect of placing two items on one ballot? Would voters be more likely to vote “No” on both issues?
• Is staff ready to place any item on a 2008 ballot?
  

My favorite answer to this entire thing is a process called participatory budgeting:

... a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making, in which ordinary city residents decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget. Participatory budgeting is usually characterized by several basic design features: identification of spending priorities by community members, election of budget delegates to represent different communities, facilitation and technical assistance by public employees, local and higher level assemblies to deliberate and vote on spending priorities, and the implementation of local direct-impact community projects.

The city sort of went down this road when they tried to put together a committee to look at the budget, but since no one was interested, they dropped it. They did hold a public meeting on the topic, but I have a feeling about the opinions of people who show up to meetings and how they might not be representative. Or, they might be.

Here is the staff report and the second attachment. The first attachment is pretty good reading as well: