By Phil Young

The most important function of a City Council is to pass a budget.

Every two years, Eden Prairie city staff prepares a proposed budget and presents it to the council for discussion. This year an additional step was added as city staff made an initial presentation to the Budget Advisory Commission, a new city commission charged to provide advice and input to the council.

The city manager presented a draft budget for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to the City Council on Aug. 21, 2007. The City Council has not had any discussion over the draft budget but it will certainly be a priority for us over the next three months.

The draft budget proposes to increase city spending over the next two years by almost 10 percent at the same time that the council is under increasing pressure to control the growth of property taxes.

The city manager’s budget takes a first step at responding to the challenge before the council by implementing a philosophy of prioritizing core services such as public safety, public works, planning, and parks and recreation over less traditional areas such as social services, which have grown considerably over the last seven years.

The draft budget proposes reductions in our city’s grant-making to local nonprofits. This year the city of Eden Prairie gave approximately $190,000 to local nonprofits such as PROP (our local food shelf), Meals on Wheels, Cornerstone (a program for the victims of domestic violence), Teens Alone and Senior Community Services.

In comparison, Edina gave approximately $125,000 to non-profits, Minnetonka $65,000, Maple Grove $120,000, and Eagan, Lakeville, Woodbury, Maplewood and Apple Valley gave $0.

Some believe that the city should provide no funds to local nonprofits as charity is a personal matter. Others believe that more should be given by the city. I believe the city has a role to play, provided that the grant goes to a local nonprofit, which provides services that, if the nonprofit did not exist, residents could fairly expect from the city. All of the nonprofits above meet these criteria and should not suffer any decrease in funding from the city. Only one or two current recipients of city grants do not satisfy these criteria.

The draft budget also proposes the elimination of our city’s liaison to the Somali community. The services provided by this employee were initially funded through a grant and have been part of the city’s budget for only the last two years. Some of the services currently offered relate directly to the city’s core mission of public safety and recreation programming and these services should continue. Other current services, however, involve matters that are not the obligation of local government, such as assisting immigrants with their citizenship applications, work papers, and translating apartment lease documents for them.

The draft budget also contemplates the elimination of one employee in our housing department. This part of the proposal remains the most unclear and will require considerable explanation during our upcoming council discussions.

The council takes the creation of the budget very seriously and does not make its decisions lightly. Residents should continue to follow the council discussions and provide their input.

Our public process has improved considerably over the last three years and we have more opportunity than ever for citizen involvement in our budget process.

Phil Young is mayor of Eden Prairie.