City asks residents’ priorities for next year’s budget

The City of Georgetown is asking residents to share their priorities for the Fiscal Year 2021 budget by taking a short, online survey: surveymonkey.com/r/GTXBudget21. The survey is also available in Spanish.

The survey will be open from June 10 to June 26, and the results will be presented to City Council during its July budget workshops. The survey explains where the City’s funding comes from and how it’s allocated, and asks residents to provide feedback to specific questions to help inform City staff and Council about residents’ priorities as they work to build next year’s budget.

“The City budget affects every resident in Georgetown,” City Manager David Morgan said. “How we allocate their taxpayer dollars determines the level of service they get in return for City functions. Because we ask our residents, to trust us with their hard-earned income, we must make sure we’re spending their money the way they want it to be spent.”

The City is limiting this initial phase of public engagement on the budget to a digital survey, in an effort to reduce to public gatherings while COVID-19 continues to spread in the community. What impact the pandemic will have on next year’s budget is yet to be seen, though the City is monitoring all available resources and planning for a lean year.

Important 2021 budget dates:

June 10-June 26: Budget engagement
July 21: First Council budget workshop
July 22: Second Council workshop
Aug. 11: First presentation of the full budget; City Council sets maximum tax rate and public hearing dates
Sept. 8: Public hearings and first reading of both the tax rate and the budget
Sept. 22: Second reading and final adoption of the tax rate and budget

For more information about the annual budget process, visit finance.georgetown.org.