Today at 5:30pm, Buffalo’s Common Council holds a public hearing on Mayor Byron Brown’s proposed budget for 2008-2009. This may sound like a dull, wonkish enterprise, but it’s not: It’s a pleasant excuse to visit the Common Council’s beautiful chambers, and anyone can speak. I will be there no later than 6pm to listen to what folks have to say, and will hand out AV swag to the first six people (not counting councilmembers) who figure out who I am and ask me for it.

UPDATE: If you’d like some broad, sweeping questions to ask about the budget, check out this post by Buffalo News reporter James Heaney. I’m a devil-in-the-details guy myself, but Heaney’s got the big picture nailed.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has proposed a budget that cuts property tax rates by 4.8 percent and holds the line of garbage fees. If you want to know how he did it, you can read Artvoice in the coming weeks. Or you can find out for yourself—check out this schedule budget hearings.