City Manager Jon Ruiz’s Proposed Budget for the next fiscal year has been released and is now available at www.eugene-or.gov/budget. For the first time in six years, the proposed budget for the City of Eugene does not have to fill significant financial gaps resulting from the national economic recession.
The 2016 Fiscal Year (FY16) budget proposal maintains Eugene’s current level of services while ensuring ongoing funding for the Sheldon Branch Library, supporting the FY16 Human Services Commission at current levels and saving a responsible reserve. Economic forecasts indicate the City can expect the budget to remain stable with no gap to fill, but also little if any funds to add programs or services over the next year.
Over the last six years as a result of the economic downturn, the City of Eugene has had to a fill budget gap totaling $30 million or 24% of the General Fund. Throughout that time, the City retained a full range of robust municipal services and continued to make strategic investments in the community including downtown revitalization, public safety improvements, and efforts to address poverty and homelessness.
“Looking to the future, we must still continue to exercise fiscal discipline,” notes Ruiz. “But the economic recovery and a stable budget offer an opportunity to focus on what’s ahead. In this way, we can achieve the community’s best outcomes for libraries of the future, development and maintenance of community and neighborhood parks, economic prosperity, and a justice system that offers hope, accountability and protection.”
The City Manager will present the FY16 Proposed Budget to the Budget Committee on Wednesday, April 29, at 6:00 p.m. in the Bascom-Tykeson Room of the Downtown Public Library.