Catch Sneak Peek of Redesigned Annapolis.gov
Later this month, we’ll be formally rolling out an exciting redesign of the City’s website. In the meantime, though, we wanted to give you a sneak peek of our handy work: http://web1.annapolis.gov
We hope the new model is reflective of Annapolis as well as highly functional, offering viewers with all the information they have come to expect – and more. But what do you think? Give the new site a test drive and drop us a comment here or send one to webmaster@annapolis.gov.
The site has been many months in the making, and many thanks go out to Inna Young, the City’s webmaster, and the rest of the Management Information Technology team along with other employees from across all departments. As you’ll see, we’re still polishing, and in the coming months we’ll be doing some more rearranging, so your feedback is much appreciated.
Why Exactly is the City in a Budget Deficit? The Mayor Explains
In his latest video message, the mayor lays out exactly why the city is facing such an extraordinary shortfall that exceeds $9 million. This was the basis of his public budget forum presentations this week. The mayor addressed the need to cut spending, focusing on layoffs and reduced city services. He will propose his budget to City Council on Monday night.
For more details about what the mayor discussed at the budget forums, go to www.annapolis.gov and click on 2010-2011 Budget Report under REPORTS.
Mayor Gives Progress Report
Check out Friday’s video message from Mayor Josh Cohen about the status of the city’s snow removal efforts just days after the city was hit with an estimated 42 inches of snow. With more than 40 machines at its disposal, the City is attacking side streets and cul-de-sacs across Annapolis to make roads passable.
The pace of the removal effort is certainly quickening as the city continues to add contractors to the city’s fleet. The Emergency Snow Routes were made passable on Thursday. The Snow Connector Routes were made passable on Friday. Also Friday: Half of the city’s residential roads were made passable.
Please remember: Crews are trying to make streets “passable,” which is not the same as clear down to bare pavement. As the Mayor wrote on Monday, there’s simply too much packed snow and ice on the streets to do more. We want to remove enough snow so roads are traversable. That strategy is allowing crews to cover more streets more quickly than they would otherwise.
Feel free to leave a comment. Thank you.
Deficit puts renewed focus on services, need for citizen input
The financial picture of Annapolis looked so different just a few years ago.
As Chief Administrative Officer Doug Smith laid out yesterday during a quarterly budget presentation at a City Council work session, the city was flush in tax revenue as year-over-year property values increased.
A few years ago, Smith noted, the city had several financial options at its disposal:
1) Hold down spending and put surpluses in a reserve fund
2) Direct new tax revenue toward one-time infrastructure projects
3) Reduce the tax rate
4) Reduce the city’s debt load – pay down a portion of our bond obligations
5) Direct spending toward increasing salaries and benefits, hire more personnel and create new programs.
By and large, the previous administration and City Council chose the last option. Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson said yesterday that improving salaries and benefits has helped maintain a competitive work force. But in the aftermath of those spending increases, coupled with a steeply declining economy, the financial picture is bleak today.
Mr. Smith and Finance Director Tim Elliott yesterday presented projected figures that show a $2.6 million structural budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, and a $6.4 million structural deficit for fiscal year 2011.
Simply put: The city is spending much more money than it’s taking in – and significant changes must be made immediately. To put the situation in context, Mr. Elliott said Annapolis’ financial circumstances are the worst in his 26 years working for the city.
Now, Mr. Smith noted, the city has fewer financial options: raise taxes, cut spending or do both. In the face of this challenge, Mr. Smith made clear yesterday that raising taxes is not an option for the Cohen administration.
The answer is to cut spending. What is the administration doing about that? First, the mayor has asked department heads to submit budgets that are 5 percent below their base budgets for the current fiscal year. Likely, Mr. Smith and Mr. Elliott said, those reductions won’t be enough alone to bring the budget back into balance.
The administration will also rely on the Blue Ribbon Commission report and is eagerly awaiting the formal presentations next month from the mayor’s transition team, the Idea Team, which will recommend efficiencies in government. Also next month, a mayor-appointed committee on contractual employees will also produce recommendations.
The question is not if the city should make cuts – the question is what gets cut. To that point, Mr. Smith, Alderman Ross Arnett and others said the city must determine what the government services that the city cannot live without.
That’s where we need you, the residents, who best know what city services are essential and what services that, in less prosperous times, should be reduced or eliminated. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, send the mayor an e-mail at mayor@annapolis.gov or reach out to your alderman.
Much must be accomplished before the mayor presents his budget to the City Council on March 8 and the council adopts the budget in late May. We need your help as the city leaders attempt to forge the best path during this difficult time.
A contributing voice to this blog
Hello, everyone. No, I am not Mayor Josh Cohen. I am Phill McGowan, the public information officer for the City of Annapolis. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Josh to bring greater transparency to the city government. One way we hope to achieve that goal is through this blog, to which the mayor has asked me to contribute.
A very quick rundown of my resume: I worked for 10 ½ years as an editor, reporter and social media specialist for The Baltimore Sun. I worked 3 ½ of those years as a reporter in Annapolis covering Anne Arundel County government, growth and development, BRAC … and for a few months, Annapolis government.
Annapolis is a tremendous town, and I am glad to be back.
I’ve spent the past seven months immersed in social media efforts for The Sun and at an interactive Washington PR firm. I am excited about informing and engaging constituents through Web/social media, building on the city’s already robust communications operations.
For example, check out the Annapolis Police Department’s Facebook page and Twitter feed. Or follow the City of Annapolis or Annapolis’ transportation department on Twitter.
We will not abandon traditional forms of communications, such as news releases; on the other hand, we will not be afraid to explore new tools to connect vitally important information to city residents.
As always, we want to get your feedback – on the methods we should use to best inform you and, of course, about the issues of the day.
Be sure to put mayorcohen.com in your RSS feed to keep up with new city initiatives.