Hi Sam, first of all, let me thank you for your involvement in this—it's appreciated! Other comments follow in-line.
By the time we see a final-draft plan in April/May, there is already little leeway for significant change.
This probably means that there is something wrong with the process and the timing; we all know that getting community feedback (and replying to it) is a lengthy procedure, so I guess we should start it much earlier next time, probably around the New Year.
Wouldn't it be better if, say, a draft of the budget and plan is submitted for community feedback, and only then brought up at a Board meeting so that the Board can include community feedback, too?
Here is the assessment from this past February, as linked from the minutes of the Feb 1-2 board meeting:
Yes, the PDF file is exactly the one I mentioned in my e-mail from weeks ago; it's also the same that Nemo_bis wrote about on this mailing list the moment it appeared on the WMF wiki. However, it should be noted that the community is at a very serious disadvantage here; that Board meeting took place in the first days of February, and the notes (and that file) were only published on March 8, leaving very little time for feedback.
-- Tomasz