Okotoks residents are invited to make their voice heard on a second round of public engagement on next year’s budget.
The Town’s first budget survey asked high-level, general questions as to what citizens prioritize in town and whether they would support tax or fee increases or service level reductions, and the results were used to help council form its budget guidelines, which included a potential one per cent increase on the municipal portion of property taxes and increases in franchise fees for ATCO and Fortis.
A second round of survey questions looks into the potential fee increases or service level decreases in more detail, said Okotoks CAO Elaine Vincent.
“Phase two is really about exploring those levers we could pull in detail to see what impacts that would have on you and your family, to see if that’s something you could support,” she said.
Questions explore whether residents would support specific changes to service levels or fees – like closing the Okotoks Recreation on Sundays during the summer when it sees low usage, charging for parking in municipal lots, utilizing red light cameras, or reducing the hours of operation for Okotoks Municipal Enforcement.
So far, she said the parking lot question has resulted in a resounding “No,” but other feedback is still being collected and weighed.
She said the proposed changes are budget cuts the Town has identified could help reduce its expenses or increase its revenues to help fund services provided without further raising taxes or franchise fees.
“We know the upcoming year is going to be different than we’ve ever faced before and we know everyone is saying, ‘We can’t afford anymore increases,’” said Vincent. “We really want to get a sense of how changes could impact Okotokians in their day-to-day lives.”
The first round of surveys saw a much higher participation level than previous public engagement initiatives, something Vincent said could be attributed to the current economic situation and a general dissatisfaction with service level reductions put in place in the spring in order to achieve a zero per cent increase for 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think there was a group of residents who were really frustrated with the service level changes we’d impacted to create that zero per cent budget scenario, and they needed the format to tell us that’s not okay going forward,” she said.
This round of questioning is delving deeper to find out why it’s not okay – or why some people may support certain changes while others do not, she said.
Part of the process involves leaving comments on the survey, which can be seen by other users who may agree and ‘Like’ the comment, or provide a counterpoint as they move through the questioning.
“It’s really encouraging a dialogue and conversation within the community about the selected changes,” said Vincent. “It creates perspective.”
All comments and responses will be provided in the recommendations for budget discussions and debates set to take place with council and the finance and audit committee Nov. 17-19. The meetings will be livestreamed for the public to view at any time as well, she said.
Final approval of the 2021 budget will go before council at its Dec. 14 meeting.
“The really critical timeframe now is for everyone to take the next four days, take those 10 or 15 minutes, complete the survey, and that will actually form the basis of the recommendations that will be presented to council three weeks from then,” said Vincent.
For more information or to take the survey visit www.okotoks.ca.
