The City of Redmond held its final public hearing for its $617 million budget for 2015-16 at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

A total of 17 people testified at the meeting, showing more interest in budget matters than Mike Bailey, finance director for the city, has seen since Redmond Mayor John Marchione introduced his Budgeting by Priorities (BP) process in 2008.

“It was a good turnout,” Bailey said.

He said since the process was adopted, community feedback and participation had dropped when it came to planning the budget. Bailey said it can be difficult to create a connection with the community over something that can be as difficult and obtuse as the budget, unless people find problems. Otherwise, he said, people are usually supportive.

This year, in addition to many people attending the public hearing, Bailey said many people also participated in the Your City Your Choice poll on the city’s website.

“Things have gone very well,” he said.

One of the people who spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing was Erica Wright, who was representing Hopelink.

Wright said historically, Hopelink has received funding from the City of Redmond based on recommendations from the Redmond Human Services Commission. She was at Tuesday’s meeting to thank the city for its ongoing support as well as ask for its continued support.

Wright said while it would still be possible to run Hopelink without the city’s funding, it would make things difficult.

“Without that funding, it jeopardizes our programs,” she said.

Some of those programs includes Hopelink’s food bank, financial assistance program and its adult education programs.

Brenda Roach, who has lived in Redmond for more than 30 years, also testified on Tuesday. Representing her cul-de-sac located along Northeast 113th Court off of Woodinville-Redmond Road Northeast, the North Redmond resident shared with the mayor and City Council the need for a designated turn lane onto their street.

She described trying to get out of their street as Russian roulette and said they have seen many accidents. Roach said she spoke at the public hearing because this issue touches on two of the city’s six priorities — public safety and transportation — and she and her neighbors hope council will consider reserving some funds to address the situation.

Bailey said there have not been any major changes made to the budget, which will run from January 2015 through December 2016, but council is looking at making a few small changes as a result of public input.

For example, Bailey said, they have received feedback from the community regarding improvements to parks in Southeast Redmond, so council will revisit the topic to ensure this area receives adequate funding. Council may also be looking into funding a possible bus-shuttle service for the senior center downtown as a result of public feedback. Bailey said citizens have also shared that they would like to see more money invested in maintaining neighborhood streets.

While this week was the final public hearing for the budget, Bailey said people can still provide feedback through the Your City Your Choice poll online (www.redmond.gov/yourchoice). They can also email questions and concerns to bpquestions@redmond.gov.

City Council is scheduled to consider the budget for adoption on Dec. 2 during its regular business meeting. Bailey said people can also comment at this meeting during its comments from the public portion.