OPINION: Budget Priority: "Healthy & Sustainable"

After consulting with the community, staff and City officials on October 4th Redmond Mayor Angela Birney presented her 2023- 2024 Preliminary Budget. The Council members are working an extra 2-3 meetings a week on this budget in what they call their most important City duty.  Council must approve the Mayor's proposed budget. 

Mayor Birney, staff and the community at large have identified four budget priorities:  1) Healthy & Sustainable, 2) Safe and Resilient, 3) Strategic and Responsive, and 4) Vibrant and Connected.  I'll write four posts, one on each priority.    

Healthy & Sustainable - $2,988,000

The Healthy and Sustainable priority supports those programs and services that promote a healthy environment for an active community including: 

• Support 2.00 FTEs for the new Redmond Senior & Community Center ($359,629) 

 • Restore ongoing funding for street tree replacement ($30,000) 

• Restore one-time funding for the Green Redmond Partnership in Parks ($50,000) 

• Restore volunteer planting events and support invasive plant species removal ($122,000)

 • Establish community gardens ($77,500) and pilot pop-up dog parks ($102,000) 

• Fund a consultant for assistance with the SE Redmond Park Master Plan ($75,000)

 • Fund 1.00 FTE to support state-regulated utility locates ($266,856) 

• Restore park maintenance dollars and analyze vegetation management systems ($1,166,998)

 • Continue implementation of the Environmental Sustainability Action Plan ($825,000), including clean building programming, building efficiency and decarbonization, and waste diversion. 

Select Service Enhancements:  Wastewater $53,000,000; Drinking water $36,000,000; Stormwater 18,000,000; Parks & Trails 15,000,000, Community Recreation $13,000,000.

 -- B. Yoder  11/8/2022