What's This All About?

In addition to current economic conditions in Michigan that have limited our economic growth and increased our costs, recent settlement of major tax appeals has reduced the City of Midland’s tax base by over $400 million. This reduction in tax base has produced a 17% loss in property tax revenue needed to provide City services.

We overcame a $5.7 million gap in funding this year, and currently project a $3.8 million shortfall next year. City employees reduced spending by $1.4 million this year and continue to search for improved efficiencies and cost reductions; however, making up for this lost revenue will be no easy task.

Things will change in the upcoming budget. That change may come in the form of a reduction or elimination of services, increased fees and taxes, or a combination of both. The implications of these changes warrant more public input in the budget process than in the past, and the City Council is very interested in citizen views on what City services should be offered and at what level.

Budget Roundtable discussions scheduled for October 7-10, 2008, were Midlanders's best opportunity to discuss the value of City services with other residents. Nearly 180 citizens took part in one of seven scheduled Roundtable sessions. Results of each roundtable discussion are currently being compiled into a comprehensive report that will be delivered to the City Council in December 2008. The report recommendations will then be considered by the City Council, which will provide direction to the City Manager in preparing a proposed 2009-10 City of Midland budget that provides efficient and streamlined services that are community priorities.

Input From Many Avenues

Input from many different sources will provide the City administration and Midland City Council the best possible information for the decision-making process ahead:

Employee Budget Roundtables

Nearly 300 City of Midland staff participated in employee Roundtables in August 2008. These sessions challenged employees to identify more opportunities for improved efficiencies and cost reductions. City staff have contributed numerous ideas to cut costs and help City services work more efficiently.

City Telephone Survey

400 city households completed a random-sample telephone survey at the end of August 2008. This survey will provide statistically valid feedback on the importance of various City service issues as expressed by the Midland residents surveyed.

Community Budget Roundtables

Citizen Roundtables allowed residents the opportunity to learn more about City services and their costs, and to discuss amongst themselves their City service priorities.

It All Comes Together in the End

At its January 2009 goal-setting session, the City Council will consider the ideas and input provided through the telephone survey, the employee Roundtables, and the citizen Budget Roundtables. The City Council will also receive summary and verbatim reports from each of the input opportunities. Then Council will establish the budget priorities, which will provide direction to the City Manager in preparation of his proposed budget to be presented to the City Council on April 13, 2009.

For More Information

The links in the purple area at left provide access to a variety of information about the City's budget challenges:

• Community Question: Budget Challenges - This 30-minute video provides you with insight into the financial issues plaguing the City of Midland governmental entity. (Windows Media Player 9 and a broadband connection to the Internet is needed.

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• City Manager's Budget Presentation - This PowerPoint presentation was presented to City employees during employee Roundtables in August 2008. The presentation outlines some of the challenges the City is facing this year and will be facing in future budget years.

• 2005 Budget Roundtables - These roundtables, held in early 2005, provided Council with input from citizens about what they believed the budget priorities should be for future years. Invaluable input from these roundtables has aided the City Council in setting priorities that have impacted the last four City budgets.

• 2008-09 City Budget -  This budget is for the current fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009.

• Timeline -  This document show a timeline of the 2009-10 budget review and approval process.

As more information becomes available, it will be added to this site.

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