The City of Blue Ash engages in an annual budget process, providing an opportunity to review and prioritize the services and capital projects the City plans to provide for its residential and corporate citizens in the upcoming year. Over the past several weeks, the Administration has been diligently working on preparing this 2010 Budget for presentation to Council. Like virtually all municipalities across the nation, recent economic conditions have had a significant impact on Blue Ash revenues. It is important to note the planning process also includes consideration of our longer-term financial expectations.

The City of Blue Ash enjoyed a 20-year double-digit revenue growth period from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, experiencing an average earnings tax growth rate of +12.7% per year. However, over the past ten years, Blue Ash’s revenue stream has leveled out and has experienced very little growth – characteristic for a maturing community such as ours.

This flat revenue pattern presents challenges given increasing operating and capital expenses. The impact on Blue Ash from our maturing status was intensified by two significant national-level economic downturns during the last ten years: the attack on our nation that occurred on September 11, 2001 and the ongoing economic recession. Recovery from the 9-11 recession took at least three years for Blue Ash to rebound from a revenue standpoint, and the Administration anticipates that recovery from this current economic crisis could be even longer – perhaps three to five years. Such factors must be considered in the budget process.

It is fortunate that a number of years ago, City leaders recognized the longer-term budget trend, and formulated a plan to address the influences of a maturing community and shifts in economic conditions. Over years since, the City has been focused on building or maintaining its general fund reserves, and the Administration and Council have been making deliberate budget adjustments. Every department has been working on cost containment, improvements in efficiency, and a greater awareness of the impact of a level, or downward sloping, revenue flow. These factors affect not only ongoing operations, but provide funding for anticipated capital replacements and improvements. If the City had to deal only with the conditions associated with a maturing community, these efforts would have been more than sufficient to keep things on track. However, given the severity of the revenue declines following 9-11 and during the current recession, the impact upon the City’s earnings tax collections (our greatest source of annual revenue) has been quite significant, requiring even further adjustments.

Although it is clear that additional implementation of operational cost-saving measures will be necessary in the 2010 and near future budgets, the driving goals of Blue Ash will remain unchanged: to continue investment in community infrastructure, such as roads, sidewalks, storm drainage, etc.; to continue the provision of quality core services for residential and corporate citizens, such as snow and ice control, police and fire public safety services, etc.; and to continue investment in community assets and programming, such as the recreation center and other parks, special events, etc. Longer-term, we will focus on operational cost containment and reductions to minimize impact in these core areas which are so important to our citizens, community, and quality of life.

Although Blue Ash is fortunate to have fared better than most communities in the region, we are not immune to national trends and economic downturns. Blue Ash has been blessed in so many ways, and has benefited from the actions of progressive City leaders and from the strong support of our community. The Administration and Council will continue to work hard to address these budgetary and operational challenges in coming months to assure the long-term financial stability and security of the City, and the City will continue to provide the highest quality services and amenities which our citizens deserve and expect.

Citizens are encouraged to regularly check this BlueAsh.com website for updates relating to the 2010 budget and other important issues affecting our community.