[BoulderCouncilHotline] Budget Input

[Young, Mary]

Dear Colleagues and Community,

I hope to arrive in time for the Community Benefit  and Use Tables discussion. I will not be there for the budget discussion.

Following is my input.

Municipal Doors:
While I appreciate the effort to improve the activation of the Sister City Plaza and adding back in the front doors to the Municipal Building, the expenditure aligns less with community priorities than many other anticipated unfunded capital needs.

For example, there is currently a $1 million backlog of Neighborhood Speed Mitigation Program requests that are funded at a rate of $250,000/year. It is expected that the backlog would grow if and when the speed limit is reduced to 20 MPH. This program directly benefits many in our community.

This is the kind of expense that makes a real difference in people's lives. The front doors of the Municipal Building would only displace undesirable activity from Sister City Plaza and likely just move it somewhere else.

Police enforcement may be the more likely expenditure that could make a difference.

Reserves:
At the January retreat, I hope the new council will support a "deep dive into the budget" project. As part of this, I would like us to critically review revenues and expenses as well as reserves in the general fund and all other departments. Therefore, a one year reprieve to the 20% goal could be acceptable, but only for one year, pending such a budget review.

Thank you.

Mary Dolores Young
Boulder City Council
303-501-2439

"All ethics . . . rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts . . ." - Aldo Leopold

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