Editor's Note -- Weekly Column written by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson. He can be reached via email here
Budgets are about priorities; so, what are your priorities for the City? Quesnel Council wants to know. However, it’s never been easy to solicit widespread feedback from the community on the City’s budget.
For years, the City sought budget input during a regular council meeting, when the budget was presented to Council close to its final draft. Last term, we tried hosting Town Hall meetings, but attendance was sparse, especially if City workers and staff participants were deducted from the total attendance (that’s not to say that City workers and staff don’t have a legitimate say in the budget process).
Two years ago, we tried an online budget survey and obtained 116 completed surveys. We learned from this first survey that many people didn’t understand the different responsibilities the various levels of government have when it comes to public infrastructure and public services. So, we created a new front end to the survey in an attempt to inform people that local government doesn’t build schools, hospitals, housing, or highways and we don’t fund seniors care, or health care, or any of the various social interventions to address the Opioid Crisis.
Last year’s budget survey saw 491 surveys completed, a marked improvement. During that survey we asked specific questions about policing that led to Council adding two more RCMP officers to the local detachment’s complement.
This year’s survey is again asking about your general priorities, and some specific questions about whether we should increase our Bylaw Officer staffing to address some of the public safety issues that are a concern to residents. Bylaw Officers can more readily address public safety issues related to social problems that are not of a criminal nature. As well as dealing with nuisance behaviours and nuisance properties, Bylaw Officers can also assist our Building Inspector to implement our new Maintenance Bylaw (which establishes minimum standards for rental properties). These important functions can assist us to get at some of the root issues of our growing property crime and public safety concerns.
As explained in the online survey, local governments have a clearly defined mandate and specific areas of responsibility. Council has an obligation to use your property tax dollars to build and maintain the City’s infrastructure and programs and create a resilient and sustainable community. So, please give us your thoughts and input.
The City’s fiscal year runs from January 1 to December 31, but, because taxes are not collected until July the tax rate for each year is set early in the taxation year after we have all the information we need from BC Assessment. So, the final budget for the City will not be established until sometime in March.
However, Council’s Financial Sustainability Committee (FSAC) is well into our budget deliberations. These deliberations start with the capital budget: roads, sidewalks, sewer, water, landfill, buildings, amenities (e.g. playgrounds, trails), and mobile equipment are the main areas of focus. The City has a robust long-term asset management strategy and a long-term capital investment strategy that serves as the context for our five-year capital plan.
The operating budget is developed after the capital budget is drafted and we have a sense of the fiscal pressures the City will face from inflation, changes in assessments, changes in operating standards, potential provincial/federal initiatives, and requests from the community for more/less services, programs and/or amenities. That’s where the survey results can truly assist us to ensure we align the budget with ratepayer’s priorities.
Please, take the time to read and respond to this year’s budget survey, it is available online until December 10 and can be found at: www.quesnel.ca/budget.
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