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RELEVANT LINKS: <br />League of Minnesota Cities Handbook for Minnesota Cities 9/10/2024 <br />Municipal Budgeting Chapter 20 | Page 10 <br /> • Interest rates on city investments have been on the rise resulting in an <br />increase in interest income. <br />• The interest rate on bonds reflects the increasing interest rates in the <br />market, making projects more expensive with a higher interest <br />component. <br />• State aid has increased with one-time allocations from the surplus <br />• Unpaid utility charges/challenges with utility charge collections <br />• Abandoned or vacant properties. <br />• Employee recruitment and retention challenges <br /> City budget documents build on the past year and project into the coming <br />year. Communicating an accurate picture of the city’s financial condition <br />helps citizens and council develop strategies to sustain the city. <br /> B. Tie budgeting to goals in budget documents <br /> Citizens support goals, not just expenditures. For example, all cities share <br />the critical responsibility to hold elections. One city sets a goal in the annual <br />budget to “continue providing efficient and friendly non-partisan voter <br />registration, absentee, and election day services” and tracks everything <br />related to that goal in the annual budget document. <br /> Citizens are therefore able to understand and support the city’s expenditures <br />related to elections. <br /> C. Foster citizen involvement in budget process <br /> <br />City of Hopkins, City Budget <br />Process. <br /> <br />City of Minnetonka: Budget <br />Feedback. <br /> <br />City of Worthington, Budget <br />Information. <br /> <br />Many cities use citizen surveys to determine city priorities and guide budget <br />decisions about the level of city services provided. Given the stress on city <br />budgets and the expenses of a city-wide survey, a number of cities seek <br />citizen input on the city budget simply by providing a way to submit ideas, <br />questions or comments about the budget through the city website. Cities may <br />also seek citizen input from targeted discussion groups, advisory boards and <br />public meetings during the development of the budget. <br /> <br /> Even though allowing citizen participation is required in cities with <br />population over 500, the required participation does not occur until late in <br />the budget cycle. Cities may wish to publicize the budget process or <br />calendar to encourage citizen participation earlier in the year. <br /> D. Link citizen input to budget decisions <br /> Once a city engages citizens in the budgeting process, include that <br />participation and comments in the budget documents. <br />19