4.04.040D Annual Planning Policy

Policy:

The city's annual budget, operations, and projects shall be planned in an open, consistent, and fair manner.

• The Finance committee shall direct development of the operating budgets and shall collate committee submissions for consideration of the city council.
• The Strategic Planning Committee shall solicit capital requests and annual work plans, collate the submissions, and review them for consistency with the community's strategic plan before forwarding for consideration by the city council. The Committee shall also provide project planning and scoping guidance to entities that request city funding.
• The Strategic Planning Committee shall maintain a master list of capital requests as a reference for the city council and others.
  
• The Finance and Planning committees shall work closely together to unify and simplify the process as much as possible.

Background:

Annual planning ensures that city entities are working on projects the community wants and needs. Planning processes move from the most general to the most specific. The community has identified Values, Visions, and broad community goals in the Gustavus Strategic Plan. These values and goals won't change very often; the Strategic Plan will be revisited and revised periodically or as needed.

Broad goals are broken down into projects and specific tasks that can be accomplished over time. The Strategic Plan provides a prioritized listing of capital project needs identified by the community. As projects are accomplished they will fall off the Strategic Plan list. City committees should check to see if a project they wish to pursue was identified in this Plan and how its level of importance was ranked.

City entities can work on upcoming project proposals all during the year, not just in preparation for annual budget calls. The Strategic Planning and the Finance Committees are available to assist committee members flesh out the projects and gather the specific information any project will need to succeed. The Annual Work Plan, Capital Request, and Project Scoping forms exist to assist city entities in identifying scoping, research, public involvement, grant applications, state or local permits or environmental assessments, capital purchasing, and budgeting tasks that will be needed to carry out the work. By the time grant or city funding submissions are due, the committee should be able to provide all the information the City Council will need to evaluate the proposal.

Procedure:

Master Capital Requests List

received by the city regardless of status or funding sources, to be used as a reference by the city council and others. The list shall include at least the following columns or data elements by which the list may be filtered and sorted:

• Title
• Unique identifier
  
• Recipient (i.e. City of Gustavus or another organization)
• Responsible entity (i.e. committee or organization who will manage the project or purchase)
  
• Date of original request and most recent modification
• FY in which first funding is to be allocated
• Status of funding request (i.e. received, rejected, submitted, funded)
• Status of project (i.e. planned, funded, under way, cancelled, completed)
• Funding source(s)
• Amount
• Links to capital request, project scoping form, and other planning documents
  

Project Planning

Significant projects require additional planning, consideration, and public involvement. "Significant" projects include those that are complex or expensive or may engender controversy or social or environmental impacts. Screening for significance can be done using the Project Scoping Form. Significant projects require several phases of planning with opportunity for public review and input during each phase. These should be documented on the Project Scoping Form. The Strategic Planning Committee may carry out the scoping and preparation phases of significant city projects that are too broad in scope for other standing committees or may advise other city entities in carrying these planning tasks forward.

1. The Scoping Phase helps assure that the public has adequate input into the size and extent of the project. The "scope of work" will describe what the project includes and all associated actions that will be needed to complete the project so that costs, labor, environmental review, and permits can be analyzed in the next phase. Precise documentation is necessary in this phase to assure public notification and opportunity to express ideas and concerns.
2. 1. Public input during meetings
   2. Develop the scope of the project by the planning and/or other committees
   3. Prepare the "purpose and need" statement
   4. City Council passes the "scope of work."
3. The Preparation Phase provides direction for necessary funding and permits needed to proceed with the project
4. 1. Find funding sources
   2. Begin permitting process if appropriate
   3. Conduct engineering studies and design
   4. Seek public review of final plans
   5. Gain final approval of city council
5. The Bidding and Construction Phase provides direction for Council or committee work pursuant to the completion of the project. Evaluation of the process is an essential part of this phase to prevent future problems.
6. 1. Write request for quotes for project and, optionally, project manager
   2. Solicit bids per city ordinance, policy, and procedure.
   3. Appoint project manager
      
   4. Award contract
   5. Follow through with regular monitoring and reporting
   6. Council accepts final close-out per ordinance
      

Capital Projects Call, First Round (CIP)

Submissions must be made during the first round to be considered for the state Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) program. First Round submissions shall also be considered for all other fund sources including the city Endowment Fund Grant Program (EFGP) so do not need to be re-submitted for future calls.

1. By October 1 each year the Planning Committee shall solicit capital projects and purchase requests from city entities and the community at large. The Planning Committee shall proactively supply each city entity with current year work plans and detailed instructions and forms for making their first round submission, and shall supply forms and instructions to others on request.
2. In October or November each city entity shall hold a public meeting with annual planning on the agenda. Liaisons from the planning committees shall assist each entity in developing its Annual Work Plans and Capital Requests.
3. By November 30 each year, each entity seeking CIP funding shall submit to the city clerk its first round capital requests.
4. 1. Each city entity shall submit one Annual Work Plan. These are not required for non-city entities.
      
   2. For each capital (one-time) expenditure identified in the annual work plan, a Capital Request
      
   3. For each capital expenditure which is a potentially significant project, a Project Scoping Form 
5. Before the first council work session in December the Planning Committee shall review submitted projects for clarity and consistency with the strategic plan, shall seek answers and additional information from city entities as needed, shall update the master capital requests list, and shall make a recommendation to city council about each project.
6. The city council shall rank and approve a list of CIP projects for submission to the legislature. The deadline is typically the beginning of January.

Capital Requests Call, Second Round (EFGP)

By January 1 the Planning Committee shall again solicit capital requests, the final reminder for the Endowment Fund Grant Program and other funding sources which have later deadlines than the CIP. It is not necessary to re-submit projects already submitted in the first round capital requests call as they will be automatically considered for the EFGP. Specific Policy and Procedures for the EFGP are located at 04.13.091.

Annual Budget Call, Third Round (City Budget)

1. During the General Meeting in January, the mayor may designate one or more council members to work with the city clerk on the admin budget. 
2. By February 1 of each year the Finance Committee shall publish, on the city’s web site, detailed procedures and forms for city committees to develop their operating budgets. 
3. Before the first work session in February, the mayor and/or mayor’s designee will begin work on the admin budget.
4. Starting February 1, the city clerk shall commence estimation of admin expenses for next FY, estimation of admin revenue for next FY, and preparation of financial information for review during the Finance Committee meeting with the mayor at the last Finance Committee meeting in February.  Finance Committee members may assist the city clerk in preparation of these documents.
5. The last Finance Committee in February the Finance Committee reviews preliminary admin budget and makes recommendations to the mayor regarding committee expenditure guidelines.  
6. The first Monday in March the Finance Committee shall schedule an all day work session for the purpose of distributing budget forms and budget information to the individual City committees.  The agenda for the work session will be a scheduled block of appointments for each committee designee(s) to meet with the City Clerk and Finance Committee to receive the committee’s budget package.  The budget package includes;
   

    

   a.       Prior year actual income and expenditure

   b.      Current year budgeted income and expenditure

   c.       Current YTD actual income and expenditure

   d.      Tentative funding from City

   e.       Information and guidance regarding next FY budget procedures

   Some committees will require minimal time while other committees may take more than one hour so the Finance Committee will schedule the appointments based on current knowledge of the committee and the committee’s history.  Posting for this March meeting shall be made at the same time the Finance Committee posts its meeting with the mayor on the last Finance Committee meeting in February.  Each City committee shall be notified individually the date and time of its March meeting with the Finance Committee.

   7.    During the month of March City committees shall schedule at least one public meeting to develop the committee’s annual operating budget.  The Finance Committee will provide assistance should a committee request budget help from the Finance Committee.

   8.    By the first business day in April each City committee shall submit operating budgets to the City Clerk.

   9.    By the second business day in April, budgets are ready for review by the Finance Committee at City Hall.  The Finance Committee shall have scheduled a block of meeting dates for the beginning of April to review operating budget submissions and consolidate a budget package for consideration by City Council at the second work session in April.

   10.    The first work session in May the Council has final discussion regarding the proposed City budget.  Following the first work session in May, the City Clerk and Finance Committee prepare the proposed City budget for publication.

   11.    During the general meeting in May the Council presents the proposed City budget for publication.

   12.    At the June General Meeting, the City Council shall hold a public hearing for the City budget and adopt the City budget (appropriation by ordinance) for the next fiscal year.

History:
Internal draft 11/16/08 updated 12/2/09 with third round budget procedure from finance committee
Final draft presented at city council meeting:
Adopted via resolution: