ACTIVITY/EVENT

Neighborhood Councils organize budget discussions and optional community budget meetings

October-December, 2005

Each Neighborhood Council should:

~ Let us know whether they are participating in giving budget input to the Mayor

~ Give us the names and contact information of the two persons who will represent your Neighborhood Council throughout the budget process

November 15, 2005

December 7, 2005 - Van Nuys
6 - 8 PM
Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center
6262 Van Nuys Blvd.

December 10 - South Los Angeles
9 - 11 AM
Mark Ridley-Thomas Constituent Svc Cntr
8475 S. Vermont Ave.

Each participating Neighborhood Council will submit to DONE :

~ The budget surveys filled out by each of its individual board members

~ A form that reports the collective position of the board on the survey questions

~ An optional written statement supplementing the board's position on the survey questions

~ An optional summary of any additional stakeholder budget input collected by the Neighborhood Council

Regional meetings of Neighborhood Council budget representatives

January 21, 2006
City Hall

Regional budget representative to meet with the Office of the Mayor

February, 2006
(Date to be announced )

Mayor must submit budget proposal to City Council

April 21, 2006

Start of Fiscal Year 2006-2007. New budget goes into effect.

July 1, 2006

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Want More Budget Information? Ask the CAO!

(The CAO is the city's “budget office”)

While the Community Budget Day gave general information on the City budget and how it's developed, some people wanted even more detailed information.

~ The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, the Office of the Mayor, and the City's Administrative Officer are offering two educational sessions at which you can learn more budget information.

~ The first session will be held from 6 – 8 PM on December 7, 2005 at the Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center , 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., in Conference Room 3B.

~ The second session will be held 9 – 11 AM on December 10, 2005 at the Mark Ridley-Thomas Constituent Service Center , 8475 S. Vermont Ave.

~ All are welcome, but we particularly encourage Neighborhood Council budget representatives to come and get the information that their stakeholders may want.

~ Please RSVP and send your budget questions to: ncbudgetprocess@mailbox.lacity.org. If your questions are submitted in advance, we can be better prepared with answers.

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Budget Resources for Participating Neighborhood Councils

~ On Budget Day, many Neighborhood Council representatives picked up packets of budget materials, including the surveys. If you are not sure if your surveys and other budget materials were picked up by someone from your board, please contact your Neighborhood Council Advocate (Project Coordinator) as soon as possible.

In the Community Budget Day packets you will find:

~ Board surveys and envelopes for turning in individua l board members' surveys

~ A board response survey to record the board's collective budget position

~ Copies of the Mayor's office presentation and the Budget Day presentation from the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment on CD-ROM

~ A printed copy of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment's presentation, including an explanation of the budget process and a timeline for budget activities

~ Sample community budget meeting agenda

~ Sample community meeting preparation guide

In the packets there were enough surveys for Neighborhood Council board members, but many Neighborhood Councils are using the budget survey to reach out to stakeholders as well. If your board would like to use budget surveys do community outreach, please contact your Advocate for additional printed copies of the survey.

The budget survey is available in a printable form on the our website in Acrobat PDF format. Go to www.lacityneighborhoods.com to find the budget survey.

~ The budget survey is available on our website in Armenian, English, Korean, and Spanish.

~ At this time, we unfortunately cannot provide the survey in a format that allows stakeholders to fill-in and submit the survey via their computers.

~ Here is a link to budget information on the Mayor's website. There you will find a budget message from the Mayor, and other information presented by his budget staff.

http://www.lacity.org/mayor/budget/index.htm

~ If you want more help, contact your DONE Advocate! E-mail us or phone us at 213-485-1360. You may also use 3-1-1 to reach us.