By Pepper Parr
October 31st, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
When the city released the proposed Budget for 2025, several people were interested and wanted to get the 615 page document and review the contents.
Burlington has small community groups that are prepared to put in the time and the energy to serve as xxx of the document on behalf of the public.
The Gazette has done two in-depth reviews of the planned spending for Information Technology and the Storm Water spending, along with a few very short articles.
Community groups have been active as well.
One group found what they thought were mistakes that had to be corrected.
They advised the CFO who ensured the corrections were made but did not advise the public.
Craig Millar, CFO, thanked the group saying: “My apologies for the errors on pages 21 and pages 24. They have been corrected and reposted on the City’s web page.
The citizens’ group has said since that they are reviewing concerns over matters on page 17.
The citizens group advises that the budget has been revised for pages 21 and 24 but notes that no notations appear indicating that some numbers have been changed. This isn’t transparent and anyone who is looking at the first version won’t know there is a newer version.
The citizens’ group and other Burlington residents are working together to review the City budget. Considering its length (615+ pages) and the short time frame with which residents have been given to study the document, this is onerous and time-consuming. Also, considering the Mayor’s “public budget meetings” all occurred before the budget was released, the opportunity for feedback on the actual details of the budget can only be given by email to council/staff or by delegating on a weekday morning. We do not consider the upcoming “telephone town hall” to be a credible engagement opportunity.
The citizen’s group made an important point when they said they chose to email because they wanted to ask questions which they are not allowed to do during delegations. They also wanted their request to be on the record, and any response to be in writing.
Every city should have a citizen’s group that is prepared to do the hard work needed to understand, analyze, and interpret city budgets.
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