» Dayton’s budget:

Plan sets aside $500K in contingency funds for departments.

The city’s $160 million plan emphasizes customer service, city officials say,

The Dayton City Commission this week approved a $160 million general fund budget for 2016 that officials said prioritizes customer service and provides departments with a little more financial flexibility.

The figure is 2.9 percent more than the 2015 budget. Revenue is projected to be 3 percent higher than last year.

The city plans to invest in its employees and systems to better assist and improve interactions with citizens, officials said.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said improving the customer experience was at the forefront of every budget discussion and factored into funding decisions.

“The focus on customer service is pretty constant throughout,” she said.

City officials also said the new budget sets aside $500,000 in contingency funds for city departments to access for unplanned expenses.

The goal of the city’s 2016 budget is to maintain current service levels while developing a pervasive culture of quality customer service, officials said.

The city is investing in customer-service training for employees, and it plans to recruit workers with interpersonal skills and backgrounds in related areas, said Diane Shannon, deputy director of the office of management and budget.

The city will launch new software for building and related permits to speed up the application-review process, she said. Offering digital records should prove convenient and time-saving for members of the public, officials said..

The city continues to work to improve call-center response times and performance, officials said. Dayton’s investment in a new water billing system expands payment options for customers and makes other enhancements aimed at convenience.

Whaley said the new budget process also calls for more collaboration between departments and focuses on a handful of “community service areas” instead of individual de-

partments and funds. Service areas include justice, infrastructure and economic and community development.

Whaley said the new approach helps better align policy decisions with the resources available to carry them out.

The $160 million general fund budget calls for using about $1.5 million in cash reserves, with about $1 million committed for investments, and $500,000 is set aside for contingencies, such as money transfers.

Department heads now will be able to make some budget adjustments without having to wait for approval of a revised appropriations ordinance, said Barbara LaBrier, Dayton’s director of the office of management and budget.

The contingency funds will help the city respond to unplanned issues in a timely manner and could apply to all general fund departments, said Shannon.

Shannon said the new process has “formalized” the use of the funds, which usually were in the non-departmental budget.

“Contingency funds provide financial flexibility for unplanned circumstances as a means of expediting the expenditure of funds.

Whaley said she understands how contingency funds can be helpful, but requested the commission be informed when contingency funds are tapped.

“This is giving significant power to the administration, which I’m comfortable with as long as there is a process for notification to the commission,” she said.