To do so, the council is looking to the citizens of Sunnyvale to let it know which services are most important to the community, to preserve the quality of life in Sunnyvale.

To do this, the council is holding four Saturday budget meetings, to give residents a chance to voice their opinions, bringing issues to light that the council may have overlooked, supporting council decisions or pointing out areas in which they think the council needs to improve services.

In the past, the office of the city manager gathered budget projections from each individual city department, compiled one complete budget, and made preliminary changes in response to projected funds, to present a tentatively balanced budget. The budget then went before the city council. The council then modified the city manager's decisions, adding or subtracting funds to balance out city services.

"In the past, by the time the city got public comment, the budget had already gone to council and the city manager's office had already put together a preliminary budget," communications officer John Pilger said.

In addition, last year's budget process started out with each department cutting 15 percent of its budget, regardless of size or needs, to make up for shortfalls.

In last year's budget crunch, more than 60 vacant positions were cut, services like tree trimming and street sweeping were reduced, and usage fees were increased. This year, the city is taking a harder look at its needs because much of the flexibility was trimmed away last year, meaning this year's cuts will potentially cause more fee increases or new fees, further service cuts, and actual employee layoffs.

In preparation for the meetings, the city staff will rank all city services according to how much they cost and how many people they serve.

To further prepare for the meetings, Pilger said, "Council will assess their vision as policymakers in terms of what Sunnyvale city government can and should be providing to the community."

For each city service, council members and the city manager will fill out a report outlining the necessity of the service, the total cost, and the number of people it affects.

"This process is really going to help us set out priorities and decide where we're going to put our money," Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton said.

Finance director Mary Bradley said that in addition to gathering more input, the new process will give council members a chance to see which services are most important to the community as a whole and make appropriate adjustments. She also said it will give new council members a better understanding of the issues they will face each year they spend on the dais.

"[The budget] is a highly involved and complex issue," Hamilton said. "And anything we can do to make it easier will help."

And while she said she thinks the process will help better represent the community, the task of balancing public demand, council vision and financial reality may be a difficult one, because funding constraints might mean cutting some programs that citizens have spoken out in support of, while some programs that the city deems necessary might not be seen as such by local residents.

Hamilton's other concern about the process is that in trying to gather as much input from as many people as possible, four all-day meetings might not be enough. If there is an overwhelmingly strong turnout, more time might be needed.

Pilger said there are opportunities after the first four meetings for additional ones, should the need arise.

The meetings are being held March 13 and 20 and April 10 and 17 in the city council chambers at 456 West Olive Ave. All the meetings will begin at 8:30 a.m. and are expected to go throughout the day. The meetings will also be shown on KSUN-18, Sunnyvale's cable access channel.