Keeping your eyes on the money
By GARY CARL/ for The Herald — How we spend your money, OUR money, has been and is, the subject of considerable debate in the Oakridge community for some time. Should we keep the bathrooms open in our city parks? How do you feel about maintaining our emergency services: Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Service (Ambulance)? And what about our public works: clean water & functioning sewers, for example?
There are three steps to developing the city’s budget. The City of Oakridge will be preparing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 Proposed Budget. The interim City Administrator, Kevin Cronin, is currently developing the budget in collaboration with city departments. That proposal then goes to the Budget Committee. Lastly, the recommended budget goes before the City Council for adoption or rejection.
Timeline for the budget moving forward
By March 31st the first notice announcing the Budget Committee meetings must be published in a newspaper (5 – 30 days before the meeting) and one notice posted on the city website (at least 10 days prior to the meeting).
Then, by April 18th the Proposed Budget is released for public comment.
From April 25th to May 17th there will be Budget Committee Meetings, and you can expect the Highway 58 Herald will be covering these meetings to keep you informed of the Budget Committee’s progress.
Council receives recommended budget in May
On May 17th, the Budget Committee recommends adoption to the City Council.
On June 2nd & 16th, the City Council holds a Budget Hearing. The city
Council reviews the recommendations; the City Council approves Resolution adopting the FY 22-23 Budget.
Now you know. If you have an opinion about the allocation of our funds, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to get involved. Better still, as of this writing, there were positions open on the Budget Committee for residents of Oakridge. Application can be made through City Hall.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
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