Chair Wheeler releases his budget today
Today Chair Wheeler released his budget. The work begins now to reach some consensus on how best fund the important work of helping our most vulnerable populations. Please read this letter the Chair sent to Multnomah County employees:
Dear Multnomah County Employees,
This morning I am addressing the Board of County Commissioners and releasing my Executive Budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2008.
In Oregon we are already experiencing impacts of the downturn in the national economy. In Multnomah County government those impacts compound the problems created when we failed to cut the budget to match the decline in revenue from the expiration of the Itax.
My responsibility is to propose a budget that will improve the stability of Multnomah County government, allowing us to continue to provide services to the most vulnerable members of our community. Multnomah County taxpayers have a reasonable expectation that their government will conduct its financial affairs with the same prudence that a responsible household would exercise. Part of my job is demonstrating to the public that we understand that expectation.
Rest of the letter after the jump.
To that end, I am proposing budget reductions to bring spending in line with revenues and I am proposing investing most of our one-time only money in buying down our debt. Reducing debt payments in future years is the best thing we can do to protect core county programs from future cuts, so important to all of us in a bad economy.
While I am pleased to report that many county program areas suffer no reductions in my budget proposals, I must also tell you that I am proposing $11 million in cuts. There is a considerable amount of belt-tightening in the form of internal service reductions that we will likely notice much more than the public.
I deeply appreciate the work that you do everyday to serve the people of Multnomah County and I want to assure you that I am doing my best to keep a strong county organization behind you to sustain your efforts. Many consecutive years of budget cutting and uncertainty have hurt Multnomah County, and I recognize that much of the burden of continuing to serve our communities in these difficult times has fallen on you. I, like you, look forward to a time when we can build on the core services we provide. The healing process is difficult, but it is well underway and I think we all have reason to be optimistic for the future.
Over the next six weeks the Board of County Commissioners will hold hearings and deliberate on a new budget, and the community will have an opportunity to have their voices heard in a series of public hearings. I encourage your participation in that dialogue.
The Board will vote on the final budget in early June.
Posted on April 17, 2008
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