As the COVID-19 pandemic has already taken a huge bite out of the city’s finances, its 2021 budget is set to face quite a few hurdles.
In order to engage the public on budget priorities for next year, the city says it'll soon launch a public consultation process.
Prince George councillors approved the recommendation that staff proceed with creating the public consultation during Monday night’s meeting (Aug. 31).
Although the details are still being determined, the consultation process will include three aspects:
- An expanded Citizen Budget Survey
- A live-streamed public forum in council chambers
- Comparisons with other municipalities
In April, near the beginning of the pandemic, the city said it was losing over $1 million a month due to lost revenues, estimating a potential 2021 budget shortfall of $9 million.
In order to make up for some of that lost revenue, council decided to keep the CN Centre, Elksentre, Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Four Seasons Swimming Pool and Civic Centre indefinitely closed, while reopening the Kin Arenas and Aquatic Centre.
Prince George has also eliminated more than 130 seasonal, part-time and full-time staff positions, either temporarily laid-off or terminated, in order to address the COVID-19 financial situation.
The city has used its online survey called “Citizen Budget” since 2015 using an interface called Ethelo’s, which is used by 30 local governments in Canada.
It allows survey respondents the option to upload their property assessment and see how their choices in the city budget priorities affect their personal tax bill.
In 2019, for the 2020 budget, nearly 300 residents provided input through the survey. The most recent city survey regarding the Pidherny Recreation Area attracted about 800 responses.
In the staff report to the finance and audit committee, which outlines the public consultation process, director of external relations Rob van Adrichem says while the survey would be primarily available online, printed versions could be available and submissions could also be accepted on the phone via the Service Centre.
The city has also recommended an online public forum similar to the one conducted in 2017 regarding the referendum about the pool and the fire hall.
The city hosted a digital forum in council chambers that provided an opportunity for the Mayor, staff, and project experts to answer questions about the projects that were provided by residents through the local media.
Residents could watch the event live on the city website or view a recording.
Two of these events were held and had a total of 1,500 “live” views; the recordings were subsequently viewed about 15,000 times on Facebook and on the City of Prince George's YouTube channel.
A similar event is being explored for this fall, says van Adrichem in the report.
The city also compares itself with similar municipalities and its peer group includes Kamloops, Nanaimo, Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Thunder Bay.
Van Adrichem says the public engagement team is reviewing these five comparison municipalities to identify COVID-19 related impacts and related citizen engagement initiatives they are undertaking.
