Do you support or oppose the adoption of the revised 2016-2017 and proposed 2017-2018 budgets by the City Commission?

Support

Oppose

Upon review of the proposed budget and the stated priorities, I am opposed to the approval of the proposed budget. As a resident, i am thankful for the efforts of the men and women who serve the City and the residents. However, we've got to be more judicious on how we spend taxpayers' money. More specifically, I've been concerned at the attempts at social engineering and "promoting diversity." Who doesn't appreciate diversity? However, taxpayers' money should not be spent on feel-good programs. We are increasingly being taxed out of affordability.

Baoky Vu

Oppose

Oppose

I oppose using taxpayer's money to remove lanes of roadway in order to add bicycle lanes. Removing lanes decreases the quality of life due to traffic congestion, additional pollution and traffic driving through neighborhoods where kids play. Adding bicycle lanes will support a very few people who are mainly riding bicycles for recreational purposes.

Oppose

I oppose using money to remove lanes of roadway in order to add bicycle lanes. Removing lanes decreases the quality of life due to traffic congestion, additional pollution and traffic driving through neighborhoods where kids play. Adding bicycle lanes will support a very few people who are mainly riding bicycles for recreational purposes.

I would like instead for the city to fix things like crosswalks and stop sign road markings that have been worn away... for instance.

Oppose

The budget again, for another year, increases faster than inflation, effectively increasing taxes excluding the new park. This has been about the fifth budget in a row that the City budget continues to increase above the rate of inflation. The 5% merit pool to employees is excessive and above wage inflation trends. This shows a lack of financial discipline on the part of City Management. I wish the City Commissioners would be better stewards of taxpayer money.

Neutral

I appreciate the thorough documentation that the city has provided, and this platform to engage. The city is professionally managed and clearly has been highly effective at facilitating the growth of our community. I had planned to oppose the budget, as I have been concerned about the pace at which the city is investing in infrastructure and that the growth in our budgets is exceeding the growth in our tax base.
Reflecting on the financial data, the annualized budget growth rate has been 4% for the past year, and this year's proposed growth is 3.5%. Given current inflation rate of ~3% and a tax base growing at 5%, this pace does not seem unreasonable.
That being said, I do think we should consider the rate at which the community and economic development budget is growing - it is growing by 15% this year and has doubled in scale the past 5 years. I'd like to understand how the role of this budget has evolved and how efficiently it serves our community. Given the volume of content, it was difficult to follow where this investment is going.
thank you again for the opportunity to engage.