Residents' invited to look at 2015 City of WL Budget Stages

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

The public is invited to explore the latest revisions to the 2015 budget and compare it to previous versions in a new report on the city’s OpenGov platform. The City of Williams Lake uses OpenGov to manage its financial data and share it with the public in a digital, user-friendly format. The tool may be accessed here

In the new report called Budget Milestones, residents can easily view and analyze the latest committee and council budget resolutions and compare it to the original and even the 2014 final budget. For example, changes to the general fund by expense type may easily be visualized in the latest version by clicking on the saved view function.

“We are striving to be the most transparent community in B.C. The newest report on OpenGov visualizing our budget process is the latest example of our commitment to an open, public budget in which we invite the community’s participation,” said Finance Committee Chair Councilor Scott Nelson.

City administrators encourage residents to provide feedback on the latest budget revisions directly in the platform via the “contact us” link or by calling the Director of Financial services at 250-392-2311. Data may also be shared instantly on social media, emailed, or downloaded directly from the OpenGov platform. The 2015 budget will be finalized on April 14, 2015.

The OpenGov platform displays the city's finances over a five-year period. The budget and expenses for all city departments and divisions are presented in a digital and interactive format that makes it easy to see how taxpayer money is collected and spent. Residents can view historical revenue and expenditure trends over time and explore multiple views of budget data, including by fund, department, expense or revenue type.