Why is the City pursuing these project and not others? Who authorized these projects? What if I have a project I want the City to consider?
The City of Atchison operates under the Commission/Manager form of government. The popularly elected City Commission is responsible for the following:
- Selecting and supervising the City Manager
- Consider ordinances (laws), resolutions (policies), and contracts
- Adopt the annual budget and Capital Improvement Plan
- Authorize individual expenditures over $10,000
Most other business (routine expenditures, personnel decisions, law and policy enforcement, etc.) is the responsibility of the City Manager and his/her staff.
The City’s annual budget document includes a set of consensus goals from the City Commission (found here on page 13). Each year the specific goals or projects change to some degree, but the overarching goals have remained consistent for the last handful of years:
- Downtown Redevelopment
- Housing Stock Improvement
- Creation of Quality Jobs
- Overall Beautification and Corridor Improvement
- Quality Population Growth
- CSO Remediation and Infrastructure Improvements
- Practice Good Government
The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is a five year plan updated annually and adopted as part of the budget. Year to year, some projects become higher priorities and other fade, depending on political preferences of the Commission, available grant dollars, and/or changes in asset conditions. Every project listed in the CIP is worked through the City Commission during the months-long budget development process. The final, approved CIP gives City staff an official “to-do list” for the coming fiscal year.
Some projects even start with a single citizen advocate. If you have ideas, please feel free to contact City staff, members of any of the City’s volunteer boards and commissions, or members of the City Commission to start the conversation.