For more on Monday night’s City Council meeting, click here.
Alderman Kyle Moore’s campaign pledge to get the city’s budget posted on the Internet is moving forward at a rapid pace.
Moore, a Republican who defeated Democratic incumbent Bob Klingele for a 3rd Ward seat in the April 7 election, made a motion at his first council meeting May 4 directing city officials to get the budget published online, along with monthly updates, by June 1. The matter was referred to the Finance Committee for review.
The Finance Committee discussed the issue Monday night. The committee had no problem with putting the budget on the Internet. That can be easily accomplished by converting it into a PDF document and linking to it from the city’s home page.
The more challenging question, the committee felt, was deciding how to present the monthly updates in a practical format.
“It should be something that’s understandable and useful,” said Finance Committee chairman Steve Duesterhaus.
Duesterhaus thought the project might be so daunting that he announced at Monday’s City Council meeting he may make a motion next week to amend Moore’s original motion by striking the June 1 target date.
“I don’t know if we can make that date,” Duesterhaus said at the start of the Finance Committee meeting, which was held after Monday’s regular council session.
However, City Comptroller Ann Scott came to the rescue by suggesting the council publish a monthly report that’s already being produced by her department. The report shows the amount of money budgeted for each department along with the year-to-date expenditures and balance remaining in each category.
Finance Committee members, as well as Moore, agreed this report would provide a good monthly summary of the budget’s current condition. Mayor John Spring said the report also would give the public a better idea of how unspent General Fund money from each department gets “carried over” from one budget year to the next.
The committee voted to present the proposal to the full council for its consideration at next week’s meeting. The city’s Information Technology department, meanwhile, will be working out the details for posting the budget and the updates.
In other action Monday, the council:
• Confirmed Spring’s appointments of Nathaniel Brooks as chairman and Kirby Eber as vice chairman of the Quincy Preservation Commission. Brooks replaces Janet Conover, who stepped down as chairman after her term expired at the end of April.
• Authorized the Runway Restaurant at Quincy Regional Airport to hold a “Picnic at the Airport” event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 28.
• Authorized the Marine Corps League to hold its “Rose Tag Days” May 15-16; the Disabled American Veterans to hold “Forget-Me-Not” tag days Sept. 11-12; and the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics to hold its annual run June 9.
