After nine months of studying the city budget, Kent’s Financial Sustainability Task Force invites residents to comment on their preliminary report at a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18 in the City Council Chambers, 220 Fourth Ave. S.
Appointed by Mayor Suzette Cooke and the council last July, the 18-member voluntary task force says the city should prioritize police staffing, street maintenance, economic development, sewer and water system maintenance and information technology planning.
The task force was charged with examining city revenues and balancing those resources against services, service delivery and other delivery options.
Their preliminary report was presented to the council on May 3; a final report is due June 30 in time to influence the 2017-19 biennial budget process.
Task force liaison and city Finance Director Aaron BeMiller says the public meeting will allow views of the residents into the final report.
“The original plan was to hold this meeting in June, but the group felt having more time would be beneficial,” BeMiller said.
The preliminary report and city council presentation are posted at KentWA.gov. Any member of the community is welcome to send comments on the preliminary report to Finance@KentWA.gov by May 18.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
