Tell Novato What Services Are Most Important To You With City Budget Survey

NOVATO, CA — The city of Novato is encouraging community members to share their input and help shape the 2023-24 city budget with its annual Community Priorities Budget Survey.

This year, the city is focusing on building sustainable fiscal health and addressing revenue shortfalls caused by cost increases and the expiration of voter-approved local funding.

“Due to the devastating fiscal effects of the pandemic, in September 2020 the Novato City Council made the difficult decision to reduce vital city services by $3.2 million,” according to an email from the city. “Fortunately, the economy is rebounding and important revenue sources such as sales tax have been restored to pre-pandemic levels; however, the one-time funds the City has relied upon to backfill its structural deficit over the past two years are now depleted.”

The city has also struggled to attract and retain staff, resulting in increased costs and impacting its ability to provide expected service levels.

“This leaves the City Council with difficult financial choices in Fiscal Year 2023/24 — reduce service levels or use emergency reserves to maintain existing services,” the email said.

Residents can help guide the budget process by prioritizing city service areas that are most important to them. To take the survey, visit novato.org/opennovato. The survey closes 5 p.m. April 3.

More information on the city’s budget process, upcoming meetings, and prior budgets is available at novato.org/budget.