Story Outline

TO: BURNIS MORRIS

FROM: MEGHANN FERGUSON

RE: Story Outline: City of Huntington budget for FY 2012

DATE: March 17, 2011

Subject: FY 2012 proposed budget for City of Huntington

Scope: I will research the city’s past budgets for recent years and also analyze the proposed budget for FY 2012. The story will document the rise and fall of the city’s budget over the last few years and within the planning and development department.

Need: Taxpayer money pays for many city services that are more visible, like the police and fire departments, but it also pays for other services that will benefit the city as a whole. Taxpayers need to know where their money goes within the city budget, and as a result become more informed about the upcoming year’s plans.

Methods: This story will be compiled from the last three years of city budgets as well as the proposed budget for 2012 and how each department’s allocations compare to previous years.

Sources: I will check the past three years budgets for the city of Huntington as well as analyze the proposed budget for 2012 and compare how the city is changing in major departments. I will interview city council members about the changes they are concerned about as well as the ones that are overdue.

Presentation: This will be a main story of the major points of the proposed budget for 2012 as well as a side bar of information pertaining to the planning and development department. The story will include graphs and charts that give a visual to the reader.

Follow-up: Will be done if the budget is finalized before deadline about planning and development department’s changes for 2012.