Battle Ground, WA -    The Battle Ground City Council has adopted a set of Guiding Principles that will serve as a foundation for policy decisions as the city begins the 2020 budget-planning process. 

The Guiding Principles were developed by City Council at their March 2019 Workshop following the completion of last year’s Roadmap community visioning process and the resulting Community Vision and Strategic Action Plan. City Council relied on the plan and its five community-identified focus areas of Community, Well-Being, Growth, Identity, and Prosperity to develop and adopt their Guiding Principles.  

“We were very purposeful in our deliberations,” said Mayor Mike Dalesandro, “we listened to what is important to the community and we are applying those core community values to our policy-making decisions.”

The Guiding Principles, formally adopted on June 3rd, are:

• Public Safety - Continue to invest in public safety efforts maintaining or increasing level of services and community outreach programs to ensure community well-being.
• Livability -  Preserve city infrastructure and services, and promote livability through multimodal transportation and interconnected parks and trail networks. 
• Beautification -  Protect and promote the City of Battle Ground by improving the presentation of city facilities and land to create a more welcoming environment for residents and visitors.
• Efficiencies - Adopt financial initiatives that streamline government to ensure government services are delivered in a cost effective manner that is affordable and efficient.
• Economic Development and Tourism - Put efforts towards expanding the city’s economic base.  Work on implementing the Community Vision by focusing on redevelopment of the downtown core, branding of the city, and targeting commercial and industrial sectors that will be successful in Battle Ground.
• Managed Growth - Be strategic about future growth and annexation.  Ensure a balance of housing types and services are provided.  Continue to expand infrastructure needs to accommodate growth.Future growth should be balanced, and diverse, including future housing development.
• Strategic Planning/Partnerships - Implement Community Vision initiatives and continue planning and budgeting for the future need.  Boost community partnerships to create cohesive programs and plans that are fiscally responsible and beneficial to the community as a whole.
• Community Vision/Strategic Action Plan - Implement the Community Vision and Strategic Action plan that was adopted in January 2019.  Ensure that council and staff revisit and update the Community Vision as needed and focus on initiatives identified for both the city and the community. 

Over the next several months, the City Manager will lead staff in developing a recommended budget for 2020 that reflects City Council’s Guiding Principles and ensures financial sustainability for the city.  The recommended, balanced budget will be presented to City Council who will provide opportunity for public input before final adoption.

The budget cycle continues throughout the year with regular monitoring to ensure efficient and effective use of resources, to verify City Council objectives are being met, and to identify and address any changing economic indicators.   

The City of Battle Ground is committed to accessible, accountable and transparent government practices.  The current budget plan, financial reports (including financial and accountability audits), taxpayer information and the Community Vision & Strategic Plan are readily available on the city’s Open Government page at www.cityofbg.org/35/Open-Government