Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke will present her 2010 preliminary city budget to the City Council at a workshop 4 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S.
Cooke is expected to submit a budget that will cut city jobs in an effort to make up for a revenue shortfall of more than $3.2 million. The Council is scheduled to discuss the budget proposal until about 7 p.m.
It is unclear how much the mayor’s preliminary budget proposal would lean toward cuts in services or cuts in staff to make up the anticipated revenue shortfall.
City Chief Administrative Officer John Hodgson said after a Council workshop last month that a $1 million in cuts generally equals about 13 employees, but that number can vary depending how much the city saves in supply costs if it cuts a specific service or program. About 75 percent of the costs for a city service covers staff and 25 percent goes for supplies.
Salaries and benefits for city employees comprised about $65 million of the $80.8 million general fund budget for 2009.
The Council will continue its review of the budget at a second workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at City Hall.
The Council does not take public testimony during workshops. City officials will conduct a public hearing on the proposed budget in November. The date for that hearing has not been set.
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