Community Budgeting Meeting: Share Ideas on Arts, Recreation, Health, Immigrant Outreach and Civic Engagement

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone invites Somerville residents to participate in a Community Budgeting process focused on four key investment areas identified by the community in the SomerVision plan: Recreation, Public Health, Arts and Culture, and Civic Engagement including Immigrant Outreach.

While areas including education, infrastructure, public safety and public works remain budget priorities, resident feedback and values reflected in the City’s 20-year comprehensive plan, SomerVision, have indicated that residents also want to see enhancements to the key areas listed above. To begin this work, for the first time, City officials will engage residents in a Community Budgeting process beginning with the Fiscal Year 2015 budget. Three public meetings willbe held to help put these goals into action. At each, fun (yes, seriously, fun) interactive activities will help residents learn more about how municipal budgeting works. Feedback will then be gathered to help guide the investments made both for the fiscal year 2015 budget as well as for long-range planning for these four key SomerVision goals.

Community Budgeting Meetings will be held on:

·         Saturday, March 1 (snow date Saturday, March 8), 11 a.m., City Hall, 93 Highland Ave.

Each community feedback session will offer the same content, and each has been scheduled before department heads have to submit their final budget proposals so that resident input can be considered.