To give citizens a greater opportunity to discuss their priorities for city services that should be funded in the upcoming budget, the City of Hampton late last year hosted three community budget forums.

This additional input from citizens arose from a specific request by the Hampton City Council. The formulation of the City Manager's recommended budget to Council for Fiscal Year 08-09 will consider the varied ideas from citizens. City Council will also view information from citizens as it makes its final determination on the upcoming budget in May.

At the community budget forums, citizens received an overview of the major services provided by the city. The presentation also included a look at the city's sources of revenues and the major expenditure drivers.

Citizens then broke into smaller groups to identify their top priorities for services. If they desired new services or property tax rate reductions, they were asked for their opinions on how to balance the upcoming budget.

According to City Manager Jesse T. Wallace, the budget forums gave citizens a chance to express how they wanted their tax dollars allocated.

To give citizens an even greater opportunity to express their views on the budget process, the city also conducted a number of surveys. These included:

• A written budget survey, at the end of the community forums
• An on-line budget survey during the First Quarter of 2008
• A telephone budget survey in January where 301 residents were asked about their budget priorities

All of these survey results are available for viewing by clicking on the links at the top of this page.

• Fiscal Year 2008 City Council Approved Budget