Adopting a biennial budget process could save Sumner time and money, according to city officials.
At Monday’s council study session, the Sumner City Council and city administrators discussed the idea of developing a budget every two years rather than once a year, as they do currently.
Rather than having city staff spend hundreds of hours on a budget every year, the council could adopt one every other year and create budget amendments if changes need to be made, said Mayor Dave Enslow. Plus, the required “mid-biennium review” would help keep the city on track.
“It doesn’t cost the city anything,” Enslow said. “Doing these annual budgets is sucking up a lot of staff time.”
Deputy City Administrator Diane Supler said she has experience with both types of budgets, and agreed with Enslow. So much time is spent developing the annual budget, she said, that there’s not always enough time for the in-depth conversations about the city’s finances that should take place during the budget process.
“Conversations get lost,” Supler said.
Biennial budgeting could save money and help the city become more efficient, said City Administrator John Doan. City staff has spent approximately 200 to 300 hours in finalizing and publishing the 2008 budget document.
“There’s not a lot of time and conversation,” Doan said. “There’s a cost piece.”
All but one council member agreed that a biennial budget sounds like a good idea. Councilman Matt Richardson argued against it, citing that forecasting finances for two years in advance would be a difficult task.
Richardson also noted that adopting a biennial budget process would mean that council members are only accountable for two budgets in their four-year term — and that’s not enough. Plus, with the mid-biennium review and possible budget amendments, it may take more time overall.
“I don’t necessarily think that we’re saving that much time,” Richardson said.
Supler responded by saying no one knows for sure yet, but city staff has experience with biennial budgets and the council can revert back to an annual budget later if it doesn’t work out.
In a memo presented to the council, benefits of instituting a biennial budget included time saving for staff and council members, more time to focus on overall strategic planning and more efficient tracking of project revenues and expenditures of capital improvement projects, which normally take several years.
Reasons not the use a biennial budget included loss of control over budgeted expenditures due to the longer budget cycle, difficulties in forecasting funds because of the unstable economy and difficulty for larger departments to accurately budget operating expenditures.
To institute the biennial budget process in time for the 2009-10 budget, council would need to vote on the issue by June 30, Supler said.
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