By Pepper Parr
September 15 th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
There were 25 people attending – with about five people from City Hall and three Council members.
Mayor Meed Ward will be meeting with the public in each ward during September and October.
There are two things the Mayor would like people to do:
Take the Survey and do the exercises in the Workbook.
The responses from the Survey and the Workbook will inform the creation of the Budget. Mayor Meed Ward told a budget meeting earlier this week that she hoped to get the document out before the end of the week. That hope wasn’t met.
The Strong Mayor Powers Meed Ward now has comes with a strict schedule that she explained at the budget meeting.
The city used to hold public budget review meetings that drew 50 people sometimes – seldom more. That practice fell out of favour. Putting questions about the budget on line and letting a panel of 3,000 people respond would give city hall a much bigger picture. They may not like the response they get but the public needs to be informed in a realistic way.
Sept. 13 – Draft 2025 Budget
City provides summary of the draft 2025 budget for public consultation and input. Has yet to be released
Oct. 25 – Mayor’s Proposed Budget Report posted
Nov. 4 – Burlington City Council Meeting
The Mayor, under the Strong Mayors legislation, will present the 2025 proposed budget to Burlington City Council. Council members can bring amendments to the budget for a council vote. The public will be given time to review and provide input on the proposed budget.
Nov. 7 – Budget Telephone Town Hall
Residents can join the call starting at 7 p.m. to ask questions about the 2025 proposed budget. The telephone town will be hosted by Mayor Meed Ward and run until 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 18 and 21 – Budget Committee Meetings
Nov. 25 – Special Council Meeting for budget approval.
The dates for the balance of the Mayor’s ward level meetings are:
Monday, Sept. 23, 7 to 8:30 p.m., La Salle Park Pavilion, 50 North Shore Blvd. E.
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Haber Recreation Centre, 3040 Tim Dobbie Dr., Room 1
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Central Arena, 519 Drury Ln., Auditorium
Thursday, Oct. 3, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Appleby Ice Centre, 1201 Appleby Line, Community Room 1
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Brant Hills Community Centre, 2255 Brant St., Community Room 1
The link to both the Survey and the Workbook are HERE
Why is it that you have to sign in and Register to complete the “Budget Survey”; But anyone can fill out the “Workbook Survey” without signing in or Registering??
This “Workbook Survey” will Not produce an accurate number of Residents who participate in the “Workbook” Survey?? I could complete this Workbook Survey multiple times if I wanted to?
But knowing how our COB operates, the numbers will always be skewed either way!!!
Neither survey has any real meaning. People that answer are self selecting. They are also restricted to those that have some degree of computer literacy.
I completed the workbook without signing in using a password, but the survey requires you to sign in with a password, won’t let me create a new account because my e-mail is registered with them so I must have created an account in the past, I hit the ‘change password’ link and they e-mailed the link to change my password, send……. error 404….’ if the link doesn’t work copy & paste the URL’….Done….error 500; How many IT staff does COB currently employ?
For most residents, myself included, understanding the proposed budget is way above our “pay grade”. By that I mean it is impossible for me to decide how much money has to be allocated for example into snow removal.
I certainly don’t have the desire to delve into the budgets of other Municipalities. Foolishly,I guess, I depended on our Council to make these decisions.
I knew I did not like when Reserve Funds were being used to keep taxes lower. Borrowing for Peter to pay Paul is not, in my opinion, a smart financial decision.
I knew that I did not support the tax payer dollars being used to buy and renovate the Robert Bateman High School, Skyway Arena, or the expensive upgrade to the Civic Centre.
All these community engagement meetings concerning the budget typically do not attract many resident participants. If you don’t know what questions to ask why would one attend.
Hopefully BRAG the new resident organization that is presently focusing on the budget will be able to make the budget information easier to understand and perhaps point out where savings could be made.
Of the statements and bills you receive in a year, which are the ones you can understand and accept at an initial glance? Out of those, if something appears questionable how many are searchable? The answer is, in my experience if it appears complicated, it is designed to be complicated.
The Draft Budget is late Quelle Surprise!
Does the City ever get anything done on time?