Minutes 03/25/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 25, 2003 At a Called Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, March 25, 2003, there were present: Mayor James W. Holley III, *Vice Mayor Bernard D. Griffin, Sr., Cameron C. Pitts, J. Thomas Benn III, William E. Moody, Jr., Charles B. Whitehurst, Sr., Marlene W. Randall, City Manager C. W. McCoy, City Attorney G. Timothy Oksman. 03 - 100 - The following call for the meeting was read: "Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the City Council Chamber, 801 Crawford Street, 6th floor, 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 25, 2003 for the purpose of a Public Work Session. In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting. By order of the Mayor." 03 - 101 - The following items were discussed in Public Work Session: 1. Proposed Annual Operating Budget - FY 04 I am very pleased to present the proposed operating budget for the City of Portsmouth for fiscal year 2003-2004. Although this budget is approaching $400 million, I can assure you that we have needs well beyond our ability to fund them in the near future. There are two words that are foremost in preparing a budget of our magnitude: challenges and choices. Our challenges lie in the numerous funding requests we receive from citizens, from department heads, from members of City Council, from the School Board, and on and on. Although each of these requests has merit, we cannot possibly fund all of them. The key is in the choices we make. In order to maintain our fiscal strength, we need to continue to work hard to manage our resources in a responsible manner. As we have said on many occasions, we must spend responsibly, save prudently and invest wisely. Those principles have guided us in the preparation of this "spend plan" for the coming fiscal year. Portsmouth is a historic port city, celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding just last year. Throughout the rich tapestry of its history, several things have remained constant -- commercial port activity that ties Portsmouth to the world; major military installations that protect our freedom and provide a spine of employment and activity; and strong neighborhoods populated by citizens who work together for a better community. Since 1916, Portsmouth has been governed by the Council-Manager plan, and the City has been blessed with solid political leadership and sound management. Today we continue that tradition. The theme for City Council's Retreat last November was "Fitting It All Together -- Focusing our Resources for Maximum Impact." At that Retreat, Council set goals for the short term (meaning 24 to 36 months) and the mid-term (meaning 5 to 10 years) in our three Spheres of Success -- neighborhood quality, fiscal strength and economic development. Those goals have been foremost in our thoughts as we prepared both the proposed operating and capital budgets. As you know, the operating budget provides the foundation for public services, supporting a wide variety of programs and activities in our community. The budget we are presenting to you continues this funding, with some significant changes that we will highlight today. The budget presentation will highlight the following focus areas: Public Education Investment in City Employees Public Safety Municipal Facilities Neighborhood Quality Quality of Life Fiscal Considerations Choices