Budget

The other night the Washington City Council approved the tentative budget for fiscal year 2011-12. This approval establishes the proposed budget, makes it available for public review, and sets the public hearing for the final budget adoption.

I encourage all of our citizens to at least take a look at this budget and see what it takes to provide services within our community. You can review the tentative budget for 2011-12 on our website at washingtoncity.org/finance. Since you may still have some questions about how a municipal budget works, we have also made a short video about this budget and how it is put together. I think this video is very informative and entertaining (as entertaining as a video can be about municipal finance). I hope this little presentation will give you a better idea of what makes up our budget. If, after looking at the tentative budget and viewing the video, you still have questions; we would love to answer those. Please don’t hesitate to contact myself or our Administrative Services Manager, Kimberly Ruesch at 656-6307.

I am proud of the services that we are able to provide to you and for the cost effectiveness of how we do that. Our budget, like your personal budget, has been challenged over the past few years. We have made changes such as: downsizing the organization, freezing wages (this will be our fourth year of doing that), postponing capital investments, and cutting across the board all expenses. By making these changes we believe that we have weathered the most challenging part of the economic downturn.

We are seeing some improvements on the horizon. Sales tax (our largest revenue provider) is improving. Property values have begun to stabilize and we are starting to see more activity in our business community. These are significant revenue indicators for us.

I appreciate the fiscally conservative legislative body that leads and guides our city; for their guidance and direction through this budget process. I also appreciate the hard-working staff that share those same ideals. I believe, this year, that things will continue to look up, not only our community but in the lives of each of the citizens that call Washington home.

Best of State Award

I have always heard how family oriented Washington City is. I experienced this, since moving here, as I have watched our parents enroll their children, in ever increasing numbers, in the sports and recreation programs of the city. The individuals that participate in these programs don’t just come from Washington City either, but from all over the county. I believe this speaks to the priorities this community holds dear. So it was not surprising to me when surveying our citizens, several years ago, that a recreation center was a high priority. The Council listened to this and in partnership with our community built a center that is now being recognized by the state as “best in state.”

We, of course, are grateful to receive this recognition and think it is well deserved by our staff, volunteers, and patrons of this facility. This award not only looks at the design of the facility but its operation, partnerships, etc. In applying for this award, we were overwhelmed and touched by the number of letters of support from individuals and organizations within the community. They encapsulate the value this community center is, way better than we could and I encourage you to review this award application at Best of State Application

As I said the award is great and well deserved but one only needs to go up to the community center-at any given time-to see the real reward of such a facility. This reward is reflected in the faces of our kids as they play, swim and have a place to just “hang out.” It is evidenced in the number of adults that are participating, along with friends and family, in the sports and recreation programs we offer. You can see it when you observe the senior members of our community walking the track or pumping some iron. And the great part is, that all of these generations are doing this together; something we never had the opportunity to do prior to this facility.

So congratulations community center and Washington City, you deserve this, but then again we have known all along you are the “best in state!”

Welcome to the Washington City informational blog!

We look forward to using this site to provide you information on city government topics, update you on projects, and to answer questions you might have on city related issues. The authors of the blog postings will be selected from many of our departments and will discuss current topics relevant to our community. We hope you find this site informative and helpful in giving you greater understanding and access to your local government. As always, we look forward to any feedback you might have and your continued assistance in making Washington City a place "we love to call home."