Numerous members of the public offered comment on budget priorities

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

The process to create the City of Ashland’s budget for 2025 to 2027 has been ongoing since November 2024, said finance director Marianne Berry on a presentation on the city’s budget process. 

Leadership met in November to discuss the city’s needs, resources and expenses moving into the next budget cycle. In anticipation of costs outpacing revenues, city manager Sabrina Cotta directed all departments to maintain their budgets, Berry said. Through January and February, department heads determined their budgets, and the compiled information was assembled into a preliminary budget in March, with a balanced budget for biennium 2025 to 2027 prepared by April. 

The budget will be reviewed by the Citizens Budget Committee. Any change recommended by them that is greater than 10% of the city manager’s recommended budget will require approval in a public meeting with council voting to approve and adopt the budget on June 3, she said. 

Mayor Tonya Graham asked if departments were internally looking at line items in their budgets and what may need to be adjusted for this year. Berry responded that monthly financial statements are reviewed with departments and look at changes in revenues or expenses by line item, with finance department staff looking at a broader angle. 

“If we’re doing that, why didn’t we know about the predicament and direction we were going in for Parks much sooner than the eleventh hour?” Councilor Gina DuQuenne asked. 

The city’s biennium budget is a different process than monthly reconciling of expenses and revenue to a budget. The budget is based on forecast of revenues and “the best assumptions that we have,” according to Berry.

Numerous members of the public came to speak during public comment, with many thanking councilors for voting against the proposed $9 Parks and Recreation fee and questioning the cuts proposed for Ashland’s parks and recreation programs. 

Ashley Cropper said she moved back to Ashland for her kids. She was coming to speak before council during her busiest time of day — between soccer practice and making dinner. She urged councilors to question and potentially attempt to oppose the budget proposed by Ashland Parks & Recreation commissioners. 

“What is the end goal here? Why are well loved and heavily used amenities like the ice rink, the splash pad and the Daniel Meyer Pool being threatened to close?” Cropper said. “There is no community if families don’t live here. Do you want to walk past the parks and see no one playing there? Do you want to see another school close?” 

Sharon Bryson, an Ashland resident for more than 30 years, said she and her late husband raised six kids here. 

She understood Measures 5 and 50 limiting property taxes but said she did not understand the approach to funding issues from city leadership. She asked if it would be possible to create adopt-a-park options and sell unneeded assets, which she said should include the Oak Knoll Golf Course — though she is not against golfers.

Bryson asked parks staff for data on golf course use but was told because social security numbers are not collected, the only use data available is based on tee times. Bryson said she did her own study driving repeatedly past three parks and the golf course to observe usage. She said she found use of parks to be “50 to 1” with the golf course. 

Nathan Van De Graaff said as treasurer of the Ashland Soccer Club, families have already been alerted to the likely increase in costs for their kids to play in response to increases and changes in the fee structure for sports fields. He described the cuts proposed to Ashland parks as “a decision to disinvest in what we need as a family at a time when we need them most.” 

Of the 350 children in the soccer club, many are offered financial support, which would be diminished in the face of rising costs, he said. Van De Graaff also stated he felt it was “appalling” that commissioners seemed to be discussing millions of dollars in cuts and changes without a full understanding of the budget.

Councilor Bob Kaplan said he wanted to comment on “the doubt creeping in.” In personally reviewing information available on the city’s website looking for deficits in park’s performance in 2025, he said he did not see they had overspent their budget. 

“The gaps we’re talking about are future gaps based on projected revenue and projected expenses; they’re not gaps in the current biennium,” he said.  

The city’s budget is structurally balanced, Berry said. 

“We are not in a deficit. By that, I mean operating revenues are covering operating expenditures,” she said. 

In other council business Monday, deputy city manager Jordyn Rooklyn gave a presentation on the effects of restrictions on property taxes from Measures 5 and 50, available online. 

Additional resources to learn about the city’s budget are available online.

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].