Late Friday, many of us “insiders” got a copy of the 16 Capital and 65 Operating Budget amendments that will be discussed and voted on today at 4:30 at the Board of Estimates (Room GR 27 in the City-County Building – 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.). The public had a much harder time getting the information. The Board of Estimates agenda and its attachments were not available on line due to upgrades to the Legistar program that we use. In fact, most people couldn’t get the information unless they were on the EINPC list serve, or looked at the Progressive Dane website or otherwise knew someone who had the information. In fact, I was out of town a chunk of the weekend, but did do two informational sessions on Saturday at 10 am and Sunday at 6pm, and many people were very grateful for the information. And my inbox is filling up with requests for the information from people who were unable to make the sessions.
My biggest concern is if people who will be impacted by these amendments were informed by the folks cutting their budgets. There are several annual cuts like Sister Cities and then cutting the 2.4% increases to the Office of Community Services and Community Development Block Grant organizations. In some ways, its not that surprising, but in many ways, one has to ask, was there fair warning to the people who will be affected? Or to any member of the public who is interested in these issues?
If you’re looking for the amendments, they are on the Progressive Dane website for both the Capital Budget and Operating Budget. The full budget is here. Enjoy!
