From the mayor’s desk: Meadow Martell

What an incredible turn out for the Cave Junction Second Friday Downtown Art Walk! Thank you Main Steet Cave Junction (MSCJ) organization for bringing this community building opportunity back to our downtown after so many years. Special shout out to Amy Lusson, the president and Rhino Prince, vice president, for their leadership. MSCJ is looking for new board members. If you have energy and ideas and want to participate in an organization whose mission is to develop and sustain a healthy, vibrant downtown and recognizes that community spirit creates local opportunity and inspires a high quality of life contact Amy at amylusson9@gmail.com. There is talk about making this a monthly event in CJ!
The city of Cave Junction’s fiscal year for July 1,2024 to June 30, 2025 is rapidly approaching. The budget committee has met and reviewed prepared by the city accountant and city recorder/treasurer. Budgeting is a complex and comprehensive activity. The municipal budget outlines how resources coming from many different sources will be allocated to different programs, services, and activities necessary to keep our city running smoothly.
No city has an unlimited budget. This means that Cave Junction has to carefully consider our limited resources and how to allocate them properly. The budget has to account for the local government’s current operating environment including the political, economic, social, and legal environments. Our city has a great deal of control over the internal environment, but has little control over the external environment.
The budget can also be an evaluation tool, comparing commitments made in the previous year’s budget with actual accomplishments. The budget serves a number of functions. At the most basic level it is a legal document that gives our city officials the authority to incur obligations and pay expenses. It allocates resources among departments, reflecting the city’s priorities and policies, and controls how much each department may spend.
The staff and the city accountant put a lot of effort into the developing the fiscal year budget after analyzing and evaluating project plans for the upcoming fiscal year provided by the Public Works director. The Budget Committee, made up of city council, staff, the city accountant and resident representatives reviews the budget and makes recommendation to the council for approval. We can be proud that Cave Junction has an open and straightforward cave budgeting process that allows for consistent and careful management of resources during the entire fiscal year.