At the end of May, we asked John Musolf to put together a "summer piece" that discusses the 2012-2013 Oro Valley Town Budget. John did a fabulous job, as usual. He created 13 separate postings. These are easy to access from our tab above.
We asked John to do this for several reasons. First, the overall spend is approaching $100 million. That makes Oro Valley a big town. Second, there was little public vetting of the budget. Only one public hearing took place and that was on the day that the budget was approved. Third, the Council itself held only two study sessions on the budget for a total of three hours. So, total public view of the budget was maybe 3 hours.
If you read the 13 postings you will probably be more knowledgeable of the budget than the council members were when they voted to approve it.
Now, we plan to analyze the budget. Here's a preview of what's to come:
- Pavement Preservation: Is there a pothole in your future?
- Police Task Force: Resources Committed to Federal and State Responsibilities
- Telecommunications: Using technical expertise to reduce cost
- Police School Resource Officers: Whose budget supports? Training?
- Bed Tax Fund: Are we getting Return on Investment for Economic Development?
- Police Fleet Maintenance/Information Technology: Why did these functions return to the Police Department?
- Self-Funded Health Insurance Fund: Fiscal Risk
- Police Motorcycle Unit: Size, cost and utilization
- Steam Pump Ranch/Recreation Room: What does Steam Punch Ranch contribute to Oro Valley? Why eliminate Recreation Room?
- Police Take Home Cars: Is the current approach justified?
- Capital Improvement Programs: Can we afford these commitments? What happened to Citizen Input?
- Police Community Action Team: What practical results are accomplished through this function?
- Aquatics Center Fund: How will we pay for the ongoing expenses of this new facility?
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1 comment:
John's 13 postings were extremely helpful! Thank you.
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