Budgets and a status update on the city's goals will be issues at the table today as the Sparks City Council meets for its annual retreat.

The day-long workshop starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Larry D. Johnson Community Center.

At the top of the agenda, council members will consider amendments to the 2008-2009 city budget, which could include slicing positions within the city. The amendments are in addition to cuts made in September that included transferring $625,000 from the city's stabilization fund to the general fund and reducing the city's ending fund balance to a little more than $5 million.

This round of proposed cuts could include slicing $2.55 million from this fiscal year 2009 budget, which could mean layoffs, freezing vacant public safety positions and reducing public safety overtime pay. Preliminary reports provide contingency plans for other budget-slicing alternatives, including reducing the ending fund balance to about 3 percent of annual expenditures or reducing councilmembers’ pay.

The cuts are in response to a new projection from the city's finance department, predicting that revenues will fall again in fiscal year 2009.

Currently, the city is predicting that the general fund revenue for that year will fall $4.3 million short. The projections also place consolidated tax revenue collections short by $2.1 million and business license fees are expected to drop by $1.6 million.

The workshop will also provide information on a public attitude survey that gathered opinions from 518 random Sparks residents, who were asked about public safety, population growth, transportation and general satisfaction, among other questions.

In addition, the council will be discussing its strategic goals and resource allocations for the coming year.

The councilmembers will also receive a report on the status of city public safety, area highways and roads, housing services, staffing and other general matters.

The meeting will be held in the Nevada Room of the Larry D. Johnson Community Center.