Brooks – The City of Brooks is embarking on a project to consult the community at large on operational budget spending and service levels. A new Citizen Budget online tool that simulates the municipal budgeting process will be utilized to assist Council and staff build better community relations by soliciting feedback before 2017 budget deliberations. Citizen Budget is an interactive platform that shows the financial impacts of participants' choices in real time, educating them about the trade-offs and constraints faced by their municipality. The activity also allows for greater transparency when it comes to the collection and allocation of property taxes.
“Residents care how their property tax dollars are spent. This is an opportunity to understand where your tax dollars go and to provide feedback on our services.” says Shelley Thomas, Manager of Finance. “The baseline is equal to the 2016 budget and users will be able to communicate where they would choose to either spend more or less on specific categories like Recreation or public safety.”
After choosing whether to increase, decrease or maintain spending, participants will see what the impact of such decisions might be on service levels. There are also opportunities to provide feedback in the form of comments. At the end of the activity, participants will receive a summary of their suggestions and a comparison to what other participants suggested.
“Have your say!” and participate online from October 14 - November 15 at www.brooksbudget.com.
For more information, please contact:
Shelley Thomas
Manager of Finance
403-362-3333