About the City's Budget Process

The City of Camas prepares an annual budget for all functions and activities of the City. The annual budget process is a lengthy, formal process for the Mayor, City Council, and City staff. The general process includes the following procedures:

• A budget calendar is developed to schedule tasks and deadlines to meet.
• The Mayor and City Council discuss goals and objectives for the coming year and create guidelines for the budget requests of each department.
• The budget calendar, forms, and instructions are distributed to each department head to assist in generating proposed departmental budgets. These requests are then submitted to the City Administrator and Finance Director to be reviewed.
• Revenue estimates are generated, which include all resources the City expects to receive in the next budget year. As the budget process continues, these estimates are continually revisited to ensure accuracy.
• The City Administrator meets with each department head to review the department’s budget request and goals and objectives and compares these objectives with the Mayor and City Council’s objectives.
• All budget expenditure requests are compared to the anticipated available resources, and adjustments are made to balance the requests with the projected resources.
• A comprehensive budget document is prepared with the Mayor’s budget message outlining the goals that were the foundation of the budget, including major capital projects planned for the ensuing year.
• The Mayor and City Council review and discuss the proposed budget at a City Council workshop in November. In early December, a formal public hearing is held to obtain public testimony on the budget.
• The budget is then adopted by the City Council and becomes a formal document that guides City functions through the year.