AgdaPkt 2009-09-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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8A in projected revenues or expenditures, reserves would then drop further to $1.page 5 million (12.7% of revenues) by the end of FY 2013/14. Another clear disadvantage of this option: It requires nearly $8.6 million in expenditure reductions over the next four fiscal years. 5. Council may identify some combination or mix of the four options above, which could also include different expenditure reductions and/or new revenues to balance the FY 2009/10 budget. LONG-TERM OPPORTUNITIES AND INITIATIVES In concert with the business of balancing the current year's budget, staff is fully engaged in several other initiatives that are focused on the City's long-term financial sustainability. A series of discussions across the organization have begun about mid- to-long-term ideas and opportunities. Some of the broad questions driving this conversation are listed below, with some examples of potential process and preliminary policy options shown. . Knowing our fiscal constraints, what do we see as the "idear organization? And what opportunities do we have in the near term to move toward that ideal organization? a. Leverage existing and future vacancies to explore structural and alignment changes that could reduce staffing while maintaining and/or enhancing services (could range from collapsing departments together, to shifting how stand-alone or self-reliant work units or programs are supported, to shifting high-level analytical work from senior management positions to other job classifications). b. Centralization of some business / administrative functions. c. Review and update fees and charges to ensure consistent and fair recovery of costs where applicable. d. Explore development of a centralized system to optimize volunteer recruitment, training and deployment: build organizational capacity to effectively manage and support volunteers. e. Look into the information technology world for new ways of streamlining transactions, research, communications and technical interfaces. f. Capitalize on a few ushared services" models with the County and/or other cities. . Long-term opportunities and initiatives: What beyond short-term cuts needs to be considered and explored? a. Affirm the City's core services as well as those services that are delivered at exceptionally high levels of effectiveness. Leverage opportunities to "contract in" such services from other cities, and/or develop shared services agreements with other entities. b. Engage with the County and other cities to explore efficiency-of-scale possibilities for delivery of basic and core services common to all communities. Be willing to provoke discussions that may be uncomfortable to some, and that challenge the unsustainable status quo. c. Create and sustain a community dialogue that will enable the City Council to put forward fiscal sustainability principles and policies over time that will reflect the highest and best ideas, recommendations, and support of employees, citizens, and organizations.