It will take the City Council seconds next Monday night to cast their votes on the government’s budget for the coming fiscal year. But it took months – or years, if you account for the assorted plans that guided it – for that pivotal document to come together.

And Milton is exceptional in how intentional, collaborative, and deliberative its budget planning process is, at least according to the Government Finance Officers Association (the nation’s leading organization of its kind). For the last budget cycle, GFOA reviewers specifically recognized the City of Milton’s budget for its exemplary incorporation of:

• “Strategic Goals and Strategies” -- with expenditures tied to inclusive, purposeful, smart goals and strategies that have been spelled out in strategic and master plans
• “Performance Measures” – with budget decisions being well informed by what results they produce for the Milton community

 This is in addition to the City’s “Triple Crown” status from the same organization based on it receiving certificates of achievement for Popular Annual Financial Report, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, and Budget Book. You can view those documents from recent and not-so-recent years at https://www.miltonga.gov/government/finance/annual-financial-reporting.

This same approach applies to the draft budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which will begin October 1 and extend through September 30, 2025. City staff have presented and invited feedback on elements at numerous public meetings and workshops since June. Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill’s upcoming presentation on City staff’s draft budget proposal can be seen here:  https://www.miltonga.gov/home/showdocument?id=7771.