The Kent City Council approved a $43,730 contract with a consultant to find ways to save money in the city budget.

The council authorized the contract Sept. 4 with BERK consulting of Seattle. BERK expects to brief the council the week of Oct. 29 about its findings and is scheduled to issue a final report the week of Nov. 26, according to city Operations Committee documents.

Council members asked Mayor Suzette Cooke and her administration to find a consultant to study the city budget and operations in an effort to find further efficiencies to reduce the budget by as much as $2 million per year.

The council approved that study at a July 31 meeting when it also approved sending a property tax levy increase measure to voters Nov. 6 to help pay for city park and street repairs.

As part of the study, the consultant plans to:

1. Assess the current cost and level-of-service situation at the city.

2. Analyze peer and neighbor jurisdictions to see how the city compares on a range of cost and revenue metrics.

3. Identify possible opportunities to streamline the city’s cost structure.

4. Conduct an initial, high level assessment of impacts and tradeoffs implied by the options identified in step 3.