I propose that we pass a comprehensive Budget Reform Act to increase efficiency in spending during our budgeting process as follows. This will include the following. First, in view of the number of unfunded mandates, the recent adoption of our Strategic Goals and the fact that our residents priorities may have changed, I recommend that we perform zero based budgeting this year.

Under this proposal there would be no sacred cows and no automatic assumptions that every action taken over the past decade by every Council and every administration is necessarily correct. I do not believe that the Town Council should be handcuffed by prior assumptions and prior policy choices.

I do not believe that our budget discussions should focus exclusively on minor variances from past year's budgets and/or only on how to use carryovers or reserves.

I believe that the Council and staff should take whatever time is needed to start from scratch and go through the entire budget without pre-determined assumption and include new ideas in the mix with old ideas. A zero based budgeting approach can be done while still insuring that whatever decisions are made fund core functions.

Second, we require that with regard to any agenda items we include a statement as to where in the budget the funds are coming from. Further, that before we vote to approve new spending items, that we require a statement as exactly where the funds are coming from, and that there be a corresponding cut in the budget from some other item if there are no funds for the new item in the existing budget.

Third, we would mandate that all major contracts be reviewed before we conclude the budget process to determine if there are contracts that could be modified, terminated or rebid in order to improve efficiencies in expenditure of funds.

Fourth, we would rescind the vote that allocated $50,000 on advertising for commercial


rentals and place those monies back into the general funds to be used for unfunded mandates, which I believe are a great priority for residents. It is my intention to move that we adopt a budget reform act with all four components in an omnibus motion.

Fiscal Impact: Medium