Page 129 - City of Bedford FY21 Budget

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

TOTAL EXPENDITURES
$1,620,589

ACTUAL BUDGET BASE REQUESTS BUDGET
DIVISION/FUND
18/19 19/20 20/21 20/21 20/21
City Council 134,581 218,300 164,150 - 164,150

City Manager's Office 754,646 747,373 920,889 29,160 950,049
City Secretary's Office 287,927 307,923 264,873 13,441 278,314
Communications - 167,597 179,949 9,727 189,676
PEG Fund 12,743 38,400 38,400 - 38,400

TOTAL $1,189,898 $1,479,593 $1,568,261 $ 52,328 $1,620,589

Future Budget Considerations

City Manager- The City continues to experience challenges in regards to revenue. Expenditures out-pace the available resources
each year, with many needs going unfunded. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue and impacts are expected for sales
tax revenue as a result. Staff must continue to look for ways to diversify revenue to support the costs of providing essential and
desired services by the community.

City Secretary- In the past few Legislative sessions, bills have been introduced to eliminate the May uniform election date, which
would force cities to move to the November uniform election date. Though these bills have ultimately failed, it is anticipated that
similar bills will be introduced in future Legislative sessions. Historically, the November uniform election date has been costlier due
to the longer ballots and increased number of polling stations; however, the implementation of vote centers may help reduce those
costs.

The City Secretary's Office will look at expanding the functions of the Laserfiche Document Management System to include tracking
the retention period of non-permanent records and adding a web-based component. They will also look at adding users from other
departments.

Communications- As the recent COVID-19 pandemic showed us so very clearly, in many cases the only interaction the public has
with their local government is via social media. Now more than ever, it is imperative the City continues to work toward being
responsive to the needs of the community, and a major component of that is providing more timely and consistent information to
residents via social media sites. The benefits of having a dedicated Communications and Social Media Specialist range from getting
important information out to Bedford residents to creating brand awareness and loyalty.

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