| I thought it would be interesting and informative to compare Ashland’s spending per capita compared to other Oregon cities. Not every city has posted their 2022 proposed budgets, so I used 2021 approved budgets for them. Every municipality does it differently. It’s not all directly and precisely comparable, but the overall comparison is undeniable. Also note that Ashland’s 2022 proposed budget is about 15% higher than the 2021 approved budget. I don’t think Finance has emphasized that enough. And I know they haven’t explained it adequately. All of the data collected here is available on the web for verification at the municipalities’ websites. If you do visit those websites, please note how much more complete the data is on most of them as compared to Ashland.  Please, let the Budget Committee know what you think! Dean Silver |
