At last night’s City Council meeting, the Council gave final approval to the creation of a new citizen advisory commission: the Budget Advisory Commission. The Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) will assist the City by providing additional insight and oversight for the City Council into the City’s biennial budget process. The seven specific responsibilities of the BAC are as follows:
- Learn about the overall policy direction for the budget as communicated by the City Council to the City Manager.
- Interact with City Manager and City staff to learn about the City’s statutory and discretionary budgetary procedures and practices.
- Consider budget drafts, documents and other related budget information related to the City budget.
- Attend City Council workshops, meetings, forums and other events related to the City budget.
- Prepare comments for the City Council on intermittent budget proposals prepared by the City staff.
- Propose budgetary and operational reforms with a goal aiding the City Council in making fiscally sound budget decisions.
- Meet as frequently as necessary to accomplish their mission.
The City Council did not cede its responsibility or authority to establish the overall direction of the budget to the BAC. Not at all. They created the BAC in order to bring more smart Eden Prairie citizens into the budget preparation process. We will do our best to look for citizens who want to contribute to their city and who have expertise to lend to our process. The Council is actively recruiting potential candidates for the 5-7 positions on the BAC. If you’re interested, check our City website at edenprairie.org for the application and other information about the commission. The Council will be interviewing potential BAC members on February 27, so there’s no time to delay. If you’re interested (and eligible), throw your hat in the ring soon by submitting a commissioner application.
