HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 Strategic Vision 2017
FY2017 Annual Budget
STRATEGIC VISION
Mayor Dale Ross and the Georgetown City Council
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FY2017 Annual Budget
STRATEGIC VISION
Strategic Visioning in Georgetown .............23
City Council Strategies ................................25
Master Plans ...............................................27
Annual Budget Process ...............................28
Annual Budget Calendar .............................30
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FY2017 Annual Budget
F
Vision
•2030 Plan
•Council Vision
•Citizen Input
Strategic
Goals
•Quality of Life
•Sustainable Development
•Balanced Transportation
•Effective Governance
Focus Areas
•Promote a Culture of Inclusion
•Attract and Retain Quality
Employees
•Improve Internal Prcoess
•Customer Service Organization
•Ensure Financial Stewardship
Master Plans
•Parks &Recreation Master Plan
•Downtown Master Plan
•Electric Utility Master Plan
•Water Services Master Plan
•Overall Transportation Plan
•Facilities Master Plan
Annual
Budget
•Five year Financial Plans
•Capital Improvement Projects
•Strategies
STRATEGIC VISIONING IN GEORGETOWN
COMMUNITY VISION AND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Section 213.002 of the Texas Local Government Code grants
municipalities the authority to “adopt a comprehensive plan for
the long range development of the municipality.”Georgetown
has a long and successful history of community involvement in
the development of a comprehensive plan to guide growth
within the community.As early as 1964,the citizens of
Georgetown realized the importance of such a plan in shaping
the long term growth of the City.In 1986,voters approved a
City Charter amendment requiring a comprehensive plan.This
amendment committed the City to plan as a “continuous and
ongoing governmental function,”with the common goal of
maintaining and enhancing a high quality of life for the City’s
residents.The Charter establishes that the comprehensive plan
must contain the “Council's policies for growth,development,
and beautification of the land within the corporate limits and
the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City,or for geographic
portions thereof including neighborhood,community or area
wide plans.”The City adopted its first comprehensive plan in
1988 and updated it in 2006.
The first component of the process is the strategic thinking and
visioning by the City Council,typically through a visioning and
priority setting workshop.This Council workshop serves an
integral role in linking the long term vision and plans to the
ongoing and current needs of the community.Using Council’s
priorities,biennial citizen survey feedback and growth
assumptions,five year comprehensive CIP and business plans
are prepared.These plans are reviewed and adjusted by staff
and Council,and serve as the basis for the annual budget
preparation
GEORGETOWN 2030 PLAN
The comprehensive plan for the City is the Georgetown 2030 Plan.The process to update the City’s comprehensive
plan began in 2006 and used a broad cross section of citizens that provided input and ideas throughout the
process.Meetings were held that allowed citizens and stakeholders the opportunity to voice their ideas and
concerns about community growth over the next 20 years.The Georgetown 2030 Comprehensive Plan is the
product of a careful design process that incrementally built consensus on the desired future of the City and the
means to achieve that future.The 2030 Plan was adopted by City Council in 2008.City Staff will update the 2030
plan in FY2018 with a study starting in FY2017.
The 2030 Comprehensive Plan builds on the foundation created by the 1988 Plan and advances the planning for
the City’s future by establishing a Vision Statement that reflects the shared values and aspirations of citizens.
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FY2017 Annual Budget
F
STRATEGIC GOALS
To meet the challenges set forth by the 2030 Plan,the City adopted a new process in preparation for the FY2013
annual budget.With guidance from Council,staff developed a framework for a strategic guidance from the Council
that directs a more detailed business planning process at the staff level.At the Council level,the focus is strategic
thinking and visioning that sets policies and direction for the City Manager and staff.
The 2030 Comprehensive Plan has four major themes listed below that frame the budget process.
QUALITY OF LIFE:Focuses on Community Character,the People,Educational and Cultural Opportunities,and
Public Safety.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:Attract a desired balanced development,support homegrown businesses,
promote development compatible with safe and efficient traffic movement,prevent incompatible
development,and deliver utility services to meet the needs of the community.
BALANCED TRANSPORTATION:Progress towards functional,wellintegrated,multimodal transportation
system that implements improvements to the local road and traffic controls and enhance traffic flow &
safety.
EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE:Maintain our City government’s reputation for providing a high level of
responsiveness to citizens and exercise visionary leadership in planning and investing for the future.
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FY2017 Annual Budget
CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIES
In the fall of 2015,the City Council went through a series of visioning exercises clarify their role as a City Council,
develop a vision statement for the City,create a list of goals to help drive policy and decisions towards that vision,
and finally,develop a list of strategies to achieve those goals.The alignment between the Council’s vision for the
City with the goals helps shape policy.The alignment between Council goals and the individual strategies to achieve
those goals helps Council give clear and concise direction to staff.Since November,staff has been working to develop
and execute implementation plans around each of these strategies.Below is what the City Council developed as
their vision,goals,and strategies for the City to accomplish in the coming years.
Role of Council
As a representative democracy,we provide a voice for each district so that the Council can make decisions that serve
the best interests of the City of Georgetown as a whole.To establish a common vision and goals that will protect the
past and innovate for the future of our City,we are committed to the following:
Keep the City physically safe and fiscally sound
Establish appropriate policies
Approve effective budgets
Exercise fiduciary and financial responsibility
Provide guidance,support,and oversight to the Council’s direct reports
Hold key staff accountable for effectively running the City
Vision
Georgetown is a safe,healthy,happy,connected,and truly diverse community where people can live,learn,
work,retire,and play in an environment where we have ready access,throughout our lives,to arts,culture,
essential services,and the natural environment.
Our educated and skilled population,fiscally responsible governance,excellent infrastructure,and the
beauty of our natural and manmade environments,attract new residents and businesses and enable us to
create balanced and diverse employment centers and economic levels.Our strong sense of community
connects us regardless of our cultural,age,ethnic,or economic differences.
City Council Goals
Culture
Georgetown is a truly diverse,vibrant,inclusive,and socially dynamic city where everyone has the
opportunity to participate in,and benefit from,our economic,political,and social activities
Employee
Our outstanding and innovative City Employees work diligently to bring the Vision of Council to life and
deliver exceptional services to our customers while exemplifying our Core Values
Council Vision
Broadly,what do we
want the City of
Georgetown to look
like in the future?
Council Goals
What will the City
have to do to
achieve that vision?
Council Strategies
What individual
tasks need to be
done to help
accomplish each
goal?
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FY2017 Annual Budget
Internal Process
Our policies and procedures are easy to understand,and consistently and professionally applied.Our internal
processes are effective,efficient,fair,inventive,and transparent,and make us a desired destination for
residents and businesses
Customer
Anyone interacting with the City will have such a positive experience that they will tell everyone about it
Financial
To maintain a fiscal environment conducive to attaining the goals of the City
Council Strategies
Attract,hire,develop,and retain the best people,and compensate them for the value they create
Create a customer service mindset
Implement the special event and destination strategy
Build and maintain an entertainment platform/venues
Expand and diversify the tax base (increase commercial percentage)
Accumulate funds to account for unfunded and unanticipated liabilities
Create a strategy to increase mobility
Attain and maintain superior public safety and the enhance the perception of safety
Attract younger workers/young professionals
Improve communications and advertising
Create and maintain outstanding aesthetics,and a welcoming appearance and spirit
Create an asset maintenance and revitalization plan
Create an annexation strategy
Monitor,promote,and communicate a long term water and utilities plan and strategy
City staff has been working to develop and execute implementation plans for each of these 14 strategies.Staff has
regular checkins with the City Manager to provide progress updates.The City Manager,in turn,has been
providing updates to the City Council to confirm that the strategy execution is aligned with the Council’s goals and
vision.
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FY2017 Annual Budget
MASTER PLANS
While the City of Georgetown 2030 Comprehensive Plan is a policy document,the goals and actions identified in it
will only become a reality by concerted and consistent implementation efforts.This requires that the City
administration,departments,and City Council actively uses the 2030 Comprehensive Plan as a key reference for all
decisions and actions.The 2030 Plan identifies elements,or master plans,needed to frame the strategic planning
and multiyear budgeting process.These master plans serve as a platform to secure input and consensus regarding
strategies to achieve the goals outlined in the 2030 Plan.
The intent is to update master plans decennially,pending Council funding and direction,to provide a sustainable and
manageable business planning process update.Detailed Master Plans drive capital infrastructure programs and
Departmental strategic plans.Brief descriptions of each of the City’s Master Plans are below.Copies of most of these
master plans are available on the City’s website (https://files.georgetown.org/category/masterplans/).
1. Airport Master Plan:Provides a longrange plan to guide current and future activity at the Airport.
2. Arts and Culture Strategic Plan:Helps guide the City’s planning for the cultural district for the next three to
five years.
3. Citizen Participation Plan:Seeks to establish and coordinate procedures for the City to effectively and
efficiently communicate relevant information and its effects to the public.Additionally,this plan seeks to
proactively solicit feedback,improve community outreach,and provide opportunities for public participation
in the City’s decisionmaking process.
4. Downtown Master Plan:Sets the vision for Downtown and guides strategic decisions about future
developments and enhancements.
5. Future Land Use Plan:Lays out land use throughout the City and ETJ.This plan is intended to convey the
direction that the City is seeking in terms of its impact on established growth patterns,transportation,and
open space.
6. Housing Plan:Guides the City in the development of affordable housing.
7. Information Technology Master Plan:Utilized by the IT Steering Committee (ITSC),this plan identifies
software projects that may be needed over a fiveyear horizon.The intent of the plan is to ensure that
resources expended on software are invested wisely and that the risks presented by those projects are
minimized.
8. Land Use Plan:Provides an outline for new and ongoing elements pertaining to growth and development in
the City.
9. Library Strategic Plan:Helps guide the City’s planning for the Library for the next 3 to 5 years.
10. Parks and Recreation Master Plan:Provides an assessment of the current system,to allow the citizens the
opportunity to voice their desires and concerns,and to provide recommended priorities that will guide staff
and elected officials on how to plan for future parks and recreation needs.
11. Public Safety Plan:Acts as an outline for four longterm strategic priorities:enhancing public safety,
organizing development,advancing teamwork and partnerships,and emergency management.
12. Sidewalk Master Plan:Inventories existing pedestrian infrastructure,identifies design deficiencies,evaluates
future sidewalk requirements,and develops an implementation plan.
13. Trails Master Plan:Identifies key trail corridors and guides the creation of a citywide trail network.
14. Transportation Master Plan:Guides future roadway improvements,construction of new facilities,and
outlines the City’s transportation goals.
Utility Master Plan:Oversees the City in planning for longterm expansion and development of the water,
wastewater,and electric utilities.
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FY2017 Annual Budget
FY2017 ANNUAL BUDGET PROCESS
The Budget process is an essential element of the financial planning,control,and evaluation process of municipal
government.The annual budget includes all of the operating departments of the general fund,proprietary funds,
debt service funds,special revenue funds,as well as the City’s five year capital improvement plan.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The Georgetown 2030 Plan is the City’s comprehensive plan as required by the City of Georgetown Charter (Section
1.08)to preserve,promote,and protect public health and general welfare,prevent overcrowding,ensure adequate
transportation,availability of necessary utilities and services,and conserve and protect the City’s natural resources.
The 2030 Plan is the City’s Master Plan.The City’s Annual Budget is designed to further implement the 2030 Plan.
CITY CHARTER REQUIREMENTS
The Charter (Section 6.02)requires “a proposed budget prepared by the City Manager and submitted to the City
Council at least thirty days prior to the end of the fiscal year.The budget shall be adopted not later than the
twenty seventh day of the last month of the fiscal year.No budget will be adopted or appropriations made unless
the total estimated revenues,income andfunds availableshall be equalto or in excess of such budget or
appropriations,except otherwise provided.”Therefore,the budget will be presented to the City Council no later
than the 1st day of August to provide the City Council time to adopt the budget in the required time frame.
PREPARATION
The City’s budget process begins each year with the Capital Improvements Program (CIP)planning process during
January and February.CIP budgets are prepared on five year planning horizons and factor different variables
relating to population trends,development patterns,and projected growth.Revenue estimates for utility
operations,as well as development impact fees,are also prepared to forecast the ability of the rate base to fund
needed capital maintenance,upgrades,and expansions.Five year proforma models for each utility are prepared,
as well as a five year general fund and property tax model,which is prepared to determine the impact of general
infrastructure and facilities improvements on future property tax rates.
During the budget process,the City Manager and the Management Team hold budget review meetings to evaluate
the one year annual operating budget needs against the priorities and available resources.The budget is reviewed
in public workshops with the City Council in June and July.The City Manager prepares the Proposed Budget,
allocating resources to best meet the goals needed to execute the priority areas to further the implementation of
the 2030 Vision Statement.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The budget review process includes City Council participation in
the development of each segment,while allowing for sufficient
time to address policy and fiscal issues.The City Council holds
“Budget Workshops”to allow the public to provide comment and
feedback on the City Manager’s Proposed Budget.A copy of the
City Manager’s Proposed Budget is filed with the City Secretary
and budget information is also posted to the City’s website.New
to the City this year is the budget highlight video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gesS0jlrz4U.
ADOPTION
Once budget appropriations are finalized,Council will hold a public
hearing,and subsequently adopt,by Ordinance,the final proposed budget as amended.The budget will be
effective for the fiscal year beginning October 1st.
Rendering of Proposed City Council Chambers
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FY2017 Annual Budget
APPROPRIATIONS
Budget control is at the department level budget for all funds.The budget is adopted by personnel,operations and
capital (POC)totals within departments.Total appropriations are presented by Funds/by Divisions and by Funds/by
POC.POC detail by department is also included on each division summary page,as well as,within each
department’s budget pages.The Charter (Section 6.030.)provides that any transfer of appropriation between
funds must be approved by the City Council.The City Manager may transfer,without City Council approval,
appropriations between departments within the same operational division and fund.The City Manager may also
authorize transfer of salary adjustment monies between funds that are budgeted in a citywide account.
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
The Charter (Section 6.04)provides a method for budget amendments and emergency appropriations.The City
Council may authorize with a majority plus one vote,an emergency expenditure as an amendment to the original
budget.This may be done in cases of grave public necessity or to meet an unusual and unforeseen condition that
was not known at the time the budget was adopted.In practice,this has been interpreted to include revenue
related expenses within the enterprise funds and timing differences on capital improvement projects.
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FY2017 Annual Budget
FY2017 Annual Budget
FY2017 ANNUAL BUDGET CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Budget process schedule set.
Capital Improvement Program (CIP)internal department meetings to discuss proposed projects,including 5 year model update.
City Council reviews Five Focus Areas and recommends priorities for FY2017.
Internal Service Funds (ISF)meet with each division for FY2017 needs.
FTE counts and initial personnel projections.
ISF allocations are prepared.
Preliminary revenue projections:sales tax,utilities,fees for service charges,and development fees.
FY2017 Base Budgets,Service Level Improvements and new Program Requests are completed.
Five year General Fund financial model is developed.
Annual review and update of Fiscal and Budgetary Policy.
Base Budgets are reviewed by Finance in detail.
Service Level Improvements and Program Requests are reviewed by the Executive Team.
Preliminary assessed value and property tax revenue projected.
Departmental narratives and performance measures are submitted.
FY2017 CIP presentation to Council and Boards.
Budget Team assembles a workbook that includes all Service Level Improvement and Program requests for City Manager review.These
requests are all linked to long term goals from the City’s comprehensive plan.
Revenue and expenditure projections are monitored and updated.
Five year CIP presented to Council.
FY2017 City Manager’s Preliminary Budget is presented to Council.
Tax rollfinalized.
Property tax rate and revenue projections finalized.
Finalize FY2017 New Programs.
Finalize FY2017 proposed tax rate.
Certified tax rollis accepted by Council.
Final recommendations and Budget Summary distributed to Council and public.
Public hearings on proposed budget and tax rate are held.
Budget and tax rate ordinances presented to and adopted by Council.
Implement FY2017 Annual Budget.
Budget amendments may be made during the year in accordance with state law and City Charter.See detailed requirement in the Budget
and Fiscal Policies included in the Reference Section.Typically,budget amendments are proposed to Council as part of the Mid Year Annual
Budget Review in May of each year and at Fiscal Year End.
JANUARY - FEBRUARY
MARCH - APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
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