Pierce County’s elected officials and department leaders continue to present their 2008 budget requests to the County Council as the council’s planned Nov. 20 passage date nears.

Councilmembers will hear from Planning and Land Services Director Chuck Kleeberg at 9 a.m. today, followed at 1:30 p.m. by Community Services Director Tom Hilyard and Veterans’ Bureau Program Manager Mark Mascho. There will also be an update on the Farming Assistance, Revitalization and Marketing program, which the council created last year to prevent the further loss of family farms and farmland in Pierce County.

On Fri., Nov. 9, Public Works & Utilities Director Brian Ziegler will present to the council at 9 a.m., and Auditor Pat McCarthy and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department take over beginning at 1:30 p.m. The council is nearly halfway through its hearings on the county executive’s $863 million budget proposal.

Open to the public, all hearings are in Council Chambers on the 10th floor of the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Room 1045, in Tacoma. The remaining hearings are:

– Nov. 14: 9 a.m. – Superior Court Presiding Judge Thomas Larkin and Administrator Andra Motyka; 1:30 p.m. – Human Services interim Director Dave Stewart, Regional Support Network update; 2:30 p.m. – Pierce Council Alliance, Prometa Protocol, Family Dependency Drug Court

-Nov. 15-19: Councilmember and specific-issue discussions

-Nov. 20: 3 p.m. – Final passage at regular council meeting (scheduled)

For the most current budget hearing schedule, visit http://www.piercecountywa.gov/council and click on “NEW 2008 Budget Hearing Schedule” under “Council News.”