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..r '.i ~~~ INTRODUCTION [~Lf a~.~NTI~N. City Manager's Budget Message This year, the City is scheduled to complete the Kottinger Creek Restoration project, following several years of planning and design by the community. This budget contains funding for the maintenance of this newly restored, environmentally significant area. Operate an Effective and Cost Efficient Government The City continually seeks to improve the ways in which it delivers service to reduce costs, increase effectiveness and enhance efficiency. Some new initiatives included in the Operating Budget which further this goal include: • Implementation of Permit Streamlining. The City has been engaged in streamlining the operations of its development services departments by incorporating input from internal and external user groups. While the findings and recommendations of these committees will be formally presented to the City Council next fiscal year, staff has already begun to implement a number of non-policy initiatives to improve customer service. Of particular relevance to the budget are the addition of a Permit Center Manager and completion of a User Fee Study. • Enhanced Public Information Activities. Over the past several years, the City has placed particular emphasis on enhancing its venues for communicating with members of our community. Notably, the previous budget identified funding for an update of the City's website; this budget includes funding for the development of a community-wide newsletter program and the addition of a Public Information Officer position to coordinate website administration, newsletter development and other related activities. • Customer Service Training. The operating budget includes funds to develop a customer service training program for all new employees and a series of annual trainings for existing employees. REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE HIGHLIGHTS The budget highlights below reflect the major changes necessary to carry out the various initiatives that have been described above. Some significant revenue elements of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budget include: • Sales tax revenues projected to increase 1.6% and 2.5% in each of the next two years (local portion). • Property tax revenues projected to increase 5.4% in 2007-08 and 5.8% in 2008-09. • Transient occupancy tax revenues projected to increase 5% in 2007-08 and 5% in 2008-09. The following are highlights of the expenditure elements in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budget: xxiii