The City of Sonoma passed its fiscal year budget at the City Council meeting on Monday night, July 1 – just in time. The Fiscal Year began that day, and runs until June 30, 2014.
For the most part, discussion over the final budget was confined to members of the Council and City staff. There was no public comment on the budget.
“I’m astounded that, given the level of scrutiny of our budget, that more people don’t come out for this,” Mayor Ken Brown said from the dais.
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Brown also scolded the public in his weekly column in the Sonoma Sun. "Traditionally folks don’t come out for the budget vote, but is it crucially important to each and every citizen in Sonoma and Sonoma Valley," he wrote on Tuesday. "Given all the focus on the city’s finances currently, it amazes me this morning even more."
According to City Manager Carol Giovanatto , the $14.1 million budget meets the council’s goal of funding capital improvement projects, restoring staff to previous levels, and maintaining service levels.
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This marks an increase of $1.2 million over last year’s budget of $12.9 million, with much of the additional expenditure allocated for street repairs and other improvement projects.
Increased revenue from the rebounding local economy makes the budget increase possible, according to city officials. The half-cent sales tax added to retail purchases by Measure J in 2012 also increases city revenue.
The Sonoma Police Department budget saw an increase, to $4.2 million. Over half of the increase is for shared cost of a School Resource Officer; a $32,000 increase goes toward creating a K-9 program for Sonoma Police.
According to Mayor Brown, only three citizens attended the meeting, including Nancy Simpson of the Protect Sonoma organization opposing the Hotel Limitation Measure.
The city budget does not include funding for a special election, at a cost of about $30,000. A special election looks likely if proponents of the Hotel Limitation Measure are successful in securing valid signatures from 1,200 of Sonoma’s registered voters asking for a vote on the initiative.
According to city code, should the City Council decide to adopt the Hotel Limitation Measure instead of putting it to a vote, the election would be unnecessary.
A copy of the City Manager's Budget report is included with this article as a PDF.
