Tentative schedule for Council budget process

Mayor Cooper and Finance Director Crumbo announced recently that they would like to move Metro's typical budget process forward one month. Instead of the Council working to pass a budget by the end of June, they propose that we pass a budget by the end of May.

My position has been that as long as the public and the Council have the same two months we usually get to consider the Mayor's proposed budget, I will try my best to accommodate the faster timeline.

Today, I am releasing a tentative schedule for the Council's Budget & Finance Committee for the budget process.

You will see that there will be a series of community meetings in late February and early March. The logistics for these are still being planned and more details will follow. The idea behind these meetings is to give the public an opportunity to see and hear the budget information that the Council has seen and heard over the last 90 days. During that time, the Council heard from the Comptroller and Finance Director Crumbo about the size and scope of the city's budget problems and the types of solutions that are available. I want to make sure the public has this same information and an opportunity to talk about it before Mayor Cooper presents his budget on March 31, 2020.