The survey will be open June 10-26, and the results will be presented to City Council during its July budget workshops, a June 10 news release said.
The survey explains where the city’s funding comes from and how it is allocated and asks residents to provide feedback to specific questions to help inform city staff and council about residents’ priorities as they work to build next fiscal year’s budget, the release said.
“The city budget affects every resident in Georgetown,” City Manager David Morgan said in the release. “How we allocate their taxpayer dollars determines the level of service they get in return for City functions. Because we ask our residents to trust us with their hard-earned income, we must make sure we’re spending their money the way they want it to be spent.”
The city is limiting this initial phase of public engagement on the budget to a digital survey in an effort to reduce public gatherings while the coronavirus continues to spread in the community, the release said, adding what impact the pandemic will have on next year’s budget is yet to be seen, though the city is monitoring all available resources and planning for a lean year.
Budget timeline:
- June 10-June 26: budget engagement
- July 21: first council budget workshop
- July 22: second council workshop
- Aug. 11: first presentation of the full budget; City Council sets maximum tax rate and public hearing dates
- Sept. 8: public hearings and first reading of both the tax rate and the budget
- Sept. 22: second reading and final adoption of the tax rate and budget
