City of Mesa Fiscal Year 2016/17 Budget Wrap-up ]updated June 1]

Blogger's Note: Nothing is "wrapped-up" about the FY2016/17 Budget.
Nice pretty packaging with tricky out-of-scale and over-blown spatial renderings over-hype for sure, with the City Manager "scrubbing the numbers" to sell millions of dollars in spending to taxpayers. Better un-pack it AND ASK QUESTIONS NOW
FOR YOUR INFORMATION > get informed + engaged.
Here's the way it's supposed to work: "the city's budget is developed in conjunction with residents, the Mayor and City Council, City Manager and City Employees.
The result is a budget that closely matches the community's highest priorities each fiscal year." Huh???
Presented by the Office of Management and Budget
May 5, 2016
The Status
• FY 16/17 was intended as the second year of a two-year process to better align on-going expenditures with on-going revenues
• Realized operational savings in FY 14/15 has allowed for a temporary reprieve
• Annual budgets are reliant on savings to sustain services
• Departments are asked to review operations in pursuit of innovations that result in savings.  Operational savings of 2% is targeted
• Expense pressure continues regarding current services in the public safety areas while demand for services also continues to grow

Changes to the Proposed Budget

1. Light Rail Bike Patrol
Increased security in the light rail corridor through the expansion of the current light rail bike patrol $799,000 
Addition of a park ranger to assist in Pioneer Park $102,000
 2. The proposed budget included two additional Code Compliance Officers. 
The revised budget converts two existing CDBG funded code compliance officers to the general fund (allowing use of the CDBG funding for a pilot outreach program)
Enforcement/Outreach and Education
FY 15/16:  7 general fund officers, 3 CDBG officers (2 positions + 1 temp)
FY 16/17 : 10 general fund officers (9 positions +1 temp), reallocation of CDBG funding to community outreach [revised proposal]
3. Increase funding available for Historic Preservation Services  $50,000
Proposed budget included $15,000 of the $50,000

4. Increase in Human Services Funding $50,000
• Additional funding brings total to $876,000 for services and administration and $50,000 for utility assistance

THE ADOPTION TIMELINE

 

May 16: Capital Improvement Program, Public Hearing and  Adoption,
               Utility Rate Adjustments, Public Hearing and Adoption

June 6: Annual Budget, Tentative Adoption

June 20: Annual Budget and Secondary Property Tax Levy, Public Hearing
               Annual Budget, Final Adoption

July 5: Secondary Property Tax Levy Adoption



City Hall » Office of Management & Budget
Presentations & ReportsEach year, the city's budget is developed in conjunction with residents, the Mayor and City Council, City Manager and City Employees.
The result is a budget that closely matches the community's highest priorities each fiscal year.
Here you'll find the information on the city's budget, financial reports and other city reports.
http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall/office-of-management-budget/presentations-reports

Time-Stamp Tonight: NEMESIS/Hidden in Asteroid Belt? Mars Close Approach

Cosmically Cozy?. . . Major events on this planet. It's out there - the visuals are stunning

Published on May 30, 2016

Is there a Binary Dwarf Star now within a 4 year orbital intersection with Earth? http://www.BPEarthWatch.Com
The Video of the Magnetopause Reversals .http://www.solarsystemscope.com/

Sebastian Junger: Why Veterans Miss War + Its Consequences

News reporter and best-selling author Sebastian Junger has seen war up close, and he knows the impact that battlefield trauma has on soldiers. 50% of veterans have filed for disability claims,; 40% are dealing with PTSD and 10% are on active combat duty.

But he suggests there's another major cause of pain for veterans when they come home: American society is in chaos with the experience of leaving the tribal closeness of the military and returning to an alienating and bitterly divided modern society. "Sometimes, we ask ourselves if we can save the vets," Junger says. "I think the real question is if we can save ourselves." (This talk comes from the PBS special "TED Talks: War & Peace," which premieres Monday, May 30 at 9 p.m. EST.)

Published on May 23, 2014

Civilians don't miss war. But soldiers often do. Journalist Sebastian Junger shares his experience embedded with American soldiers at Restrepo, an outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley that saw heavy combat. Giving a look at the "altered state of mind" that comes with war, he shows how combat gives soldiers an intense experience of connection. In the end, could it actually be "the opposite of war" that soldiers miss?

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews
Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Link to the entire transcript >> https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_junger_why_veterans_miss_war/transcript?language=en

Trump Pie!

DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR MEMORIAL DAY - 2 Servings of Jonathan Pie

Published on May 8, 2016

British News reporter, Jonathan Pie can't stop throwing insults at Donald Trump between takes

Views: 27,142.

A Slice of GAY PIE

Published on May 29, 2016

Reporter gets his divorce papers through and discusses gay marriage.

Views: 8,881

Creative Place Making Here in The New Urban DTMesa > Music To Open Your Ears

So ya think our sweet city is way too conservative? ..... think again and listen up . . .
There are a lot of creative people of all generations, stars and stripes of all kinds, aerosol artists, photographers, fine artists and some not so fine going onto the edge of breaking boundaries, street performers ["Batman" is one] but these guys from Mesa are rockin' the world - hard to stick a label on them: alt-rock, emo, power pop, pop punk.




Here goes:

Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind. As of June 2013, Jimmy Eat World have released eight studio albums, the last seven featuring the current lineup.
The four piece's commercial breakthrough came with the successful release of several singles from the album Bleed American (2001). Four singles from the album charted within the top twenty positions of the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, with "The Middle" reaching the number one position. Jimmy Eat World's follow-up album Futures (2004) featured another Modern Rock Tracks number one song, "Pain". The RIAA certified Bleed American platinum and Futures gold, rewarding the two albums for selling over one and a half million records between them. The band's sixth album Chase This Light (2007) became the band's highest charting album, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200.
Since the completion of the "Futures 10 Year Anniversary Tour" that was held in the second half of 2014, the band is writing material for their ninth studio album.

Background information
Origin	Mesa, Arizona, United States
Genres	Alternative rock[1] emo[2] power pop[3] pop punk[4]
Years active	1993–present
Labels	RCA Dine Alone Records Interscope DreamWorks Capitol Wooden Blue Fueled by Ramen Better Looking Geffen Big Wheel Recreation DGC Western Tread Recordings
Website	jimmyeatworld.com

Out of 100 Cities Nationwide Mesa Parks Ranked In The Bottom 10

So, how’s our city’s park system, if it’s one of the 100 to appear in the index, rank? Better or worse than you expected? Where was there room for improvement?
Just released is a report for urban park systems in the country per the Trust for Public Land (TPL)’s annual ParkScore rankings, an index that ranks urban recreational spaces belonging to the 100 most populous American cities.
Residents of Mesa will have to scroll way down - to the bottom ten - to see how the city gets ranked.
The ParkScore® index measures how well the 100 largest U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks
http://parkscore.tpl.org/

The ParkScore methodology is based on three key criteria. Park Access uses advanced GIS mapping technology to determine how far a city’s residents must walk to access the nearest public green space. Park Size takes into consideration both the median size of a unit within an individual park system and the total amount of land within a city that’s dedicated to parks.

Finally, the Facilities and Investment category combines both a city's park spending per resident and the availability of a quartet of aforementioned park amenities: dog parks, playgrounds, basketball hoops and recreation/senior centers
.
Take a look at around 7 o'clock - for Mesa it's $28.6 Millions of dollars.

Mesa = 91 out of 100

While it’s true that a low ParkScore may yield a fair amount of hand-wringing for park officials in the cities that place close to the bottom of the list, the TPL sees the rankings — described as “the most comprehensive rating system ever developed to measure how well the 100 most populous U.S. cities are meeting their residents’ need for parks” — as a tool that poorly-ranked cities can use to help better themselves in key areas and, in turn, move up the list.
Link for Mesa >> http://parkscore.tpl.org/city.php?city=Mesa

Explore an interactive map from this link

Park Facts:
Park acreage: 2,521 acres
People served per park acre: 183
Oldest municipal park: Pioneer Park, est. 1947
Largest municipal park: Red Mountain Park, 582 acres
Most-visited municipal park: Riverview Park


City Stats

• City area: 83,578 acres
• Median park size: 2.6 acres
• Park land as % of city area: 3.0 %
• Spending per resident: $69.96
• Basketball Hoops per 10,000: 2.6
• Dog Parks per 100,000 Residents: 0.4
• Playgrounds per 10,000: 1.4
• Recreation / Senior Centers
  per 20,000 Residents: 0.2
• Population density: 5.5 per acre

You can download Maps and tables here >> Access to Parks by Age and Income http://parkscore.tpl.org/ReportImages/Mesa_AZ.pdf

VIEW FULL RANKING ANALYSIS HERE
Using mapping technology and demographic data, we determined how well each city is meeting the need for parks.
You can learn more with in-depth city profiles …
… or compare multiple cities.
We scored cities in three categories. Learn more about the ParkScore^® methodology.

OTHER RESOURCES AND LINKS


New tool: http://gis.mesaaz.gov/ParkFinder/

http://www.mesaaz.gov/things-to-do/parks-recreation-commercial-facilities/parks

http://www.mesaaz.gov/city-hall/office-of-management-budget/major-funds