Council holds city budget workshops

Monday’s workshop will be 4–7 p.m. at Missouri Career Center, 1514 S. Glenstone Ave., in the Glen Isle shopping center. The agenda will include:

• a presentation on the current budget and outlook for next year by Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea;

• a presentation on the city’s Police/Fire Pension Fund by Michael Zweiner, a consultant with actuary firm Milliman;

• a review of the Police/Fire Pension Board’s recommendations for improving the pension system’s funded ratio; and

• a review of proposals from city departments that were asked to cut 7 percent from the parts of their budgets that use General Fund revenue.

Workshop discussions will continue at council luncheons on March 18, March 25 and April 1, according to a city news release. Additional sessions will be scheduled as necessary.

The budget workshops are open to the public but are not public hearings. Council will decide whether to take formal public comment at any point before its normal public hearing process at the council meeting, when the budget will be up for first reading.

Citizens also can offer written comments on the budget by e-mailing city@springfieldmo.gov or mailing to City Clerk’s Office, PO Box 8368, Springfield, MO, 65801.[[In-content Ad]]