City Completes Pre-Budget Consultations

The City of St. John’s has completed two public consultation sessions for its upcoming 2013 budget.

"The budget consultations this year have been a very positive experience for the City," says Ward 1 Councillor Danny Breen, chair of the Finance and Administration Standing Committee. "We received a great deal of constructive feedback and definitely gained a greater insight into some of the key issues our residents would like us to consider as we finalize our 2013 budget."

The City conducted a different type of public consultation process this year. The first consultation session was a pre-registered event on Nov. 8 where individuals or groups could come in and give a presentation to the City related to municipal finances. At the session the City heard from the following groups and residents:

• St. John’s Minor Baseball Association

• St. John’s Board of Trade

• Happy City St. John’s

• St. John’s Farmers’ Market

• Individual Residents

"It was a very interesting cross-section of our community, everything from recreation to business to community groups," says Councillor Breen. "There were important issues raised that are under consideration. This is why it is so important that residents come out and get involved. It really does make a difference and we want to hear what issues our residents need us to focus on as a municipality."

The second session was a Budget Forum round-table discussion on Nov. 17 conducted by independent facilitator Jane Helleur. At this session residents discussed a number of issues related to municipal finances with City staff and members of Council there at the table to answer questions.

"This is definitely a process we want to expand upon next year," says Councillor Breen. "The round-table discussion was very eye-opening in many ways. I think not only did we come away from it with a better understanding of our residents’ priorities, but our residents also came away with a better understanding of some of our fiscal challenges. It was a very positive event."

The consultation process isn’t over yet. The questions posed at the Budget Forum will now be posted to Facebook and residents can still have their say before the City brings down its budget on Dec. 10.