Under City Manager Mark Shephard’s leadership, the city of Corvallis has adopted the Strategic Operational Plan (SOP) as a tool to set the priorities for staff, the council, and the budget. It covers the current and four future fiscal years. It is organized around the six focus areas in the Imagine Corvallis 2040 vision document.
Several things inform the activities and projects planned for each year. Those include the long-range planning documents that have been adopted by city council with input from the community, legal requirements, projects led by partner agencies, and unplanned events like wildfires, COVID-19 and infrastructure failures.
The SOP is revised each fiscal year. Staff from each department review projects in August and September. They work with the City Manager’s office to establish the likely financial resources that will be available and look at the staff available to do the work. If the department has a community operational advisory committee, staff may ask that committee for input. The draft SOP is then presented to the City Council in October and November work sessions. This gives the council the opportunity to incorporate their priorities and make choices based upon community priorities, their citizen advisory groups, and available resources. The SOP is formally adopted at a council meeting in January.
This means that in order to impact the 2024-25 budget you need to be prepared to give input to the SOP this fall. There are several opportunities for community input. At any time, you may complete the Input Form on the city’s website. Follow any advisory committee or task force that exists for your area of interest. Attend their meetings and provide your comments. Talk to staff who work on the projects. Talk to or send an e-mail to your city councilor. Attend the council work sessions on the SOP and give written or oral comments.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONAL PLAN LINKS