By Pepper Parr
January 4TH, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
We learn next week how city council wants to handle the budget request for $13,306,000 in Capital spending.
That covers the cost of roads, buildings and the spaces used to run the city.
The budget breaks this amount into three parts.
New/Enhanced facilities – $566 million
Infrastructure renewal – $12,684,000
Growth – $56 million
In the graphic below the city’s finance department also sets out what they expect to be require in the way of Capital Spending through to 2030 INSERT GRAPHIC FROM PAGE 27
The bottom three entries for each year set out the category of spending falls under.
The Capital spending the city does has to be put in context. The forces driving the expenditures and the requirements of the Municipal Act.
The city put a 25 year Strategic Plan in place in 2015. Council working with Staff created what they call V2F – Vision to Focus which boils down to which parts of the Strategic Plan this council will focus on.
Five focus areas were created:
1: Increasing Economic prosperity
2: Improving Integrated City |Mobility
3: Supporting Sustainable Infrastructure
4: Building more citizen engagement
5: Delivering Customer Centric Services
The 2021 budget process began with a Budget Framework Report. This was presented to Council for consideration and
approval in September 2020, after which staff began the preparation of the budget.
The next step was a comprehensive review of the budget by internal staff teams. The capital budget was reviewed by
the Corporate Infrastructure Committee which is made up of the Asset Category leads and members of the Finance team.
This review ensured the proposed budget was submitted and aligned with the City’s financial policies and that capital
projects were prioritized according to the City’s Asset Management Plan and coordinated across asset categories.
Following the internal staff reviews, the budget was then forwarded to the Leadership Budget Review Team where
it was reviewed from a corporate perspective.
Then Public Engagement. There are weaknesses on both sides of the engagement issue. The city has yet to come up with a way to put the information out in a format that truly engages the public. That is not because they aren’t trying – they just haven’t come up with a way to make the review something that draws the public.
Citizens gather for budget discussions. This meeting involved a number of city firemen who were attentively listened to by then Councillor Craven, on the right in the blue shirt. There was a time when budget public meetings drew large audiences.
On the other side – few people really care – those that do argue that the decisions have already been made – the public engagement events that take place amount to the city asking questions and looking for approval.
It is interesting to note that the city has numerous Advisory Committees but does not have one related to budget matters.
The City says it is continuously looking for ways to improve and increase transparency for the public. Staff continue to use the City’s website as a communication medium through videos, webcast and online surveys.
The City will be hosting a Virtual Budget Town Hall on Jan. 20, 2021. This event will allow residents, organizations and business owners to learn more about the 2021 budget.
The “Budget Basics” video continues to be available on the website which explains how the City develops its budgets.
In addition, a revised version of Burlington Open Budget, on the City’s website, is available to the public to allow residents to view the 2021 budget data in an intuitive and illustrative form.
Burlingtonians will show up for public meetings and take an active part in any discussion – but they have to be given background briefings and decent oportunity to study and prepare.
Budgets are long, complex documents – far too much to be taken in at one gulp.
The Gazette will follow up with detail on:
Where does the money come from – yes – it all eventually comes from the pockets of the tax payers.
Where are the pinch points?
Specific examples of Capital spending.
