View Royal 2021 Citizen Budget

View Royal 2021 Citizen Budget

April 8, 2021

Introduction

From March 16, to March 31, the Town of View Royal used a budget simulation exercise called Citizen Budget which to gather public feedback on their annual budget. The purpose of this program was to show residents where their tax dollars are being spent, and allow them to increase or decrease the levels of services provided by the Town. In addition, the program allowed residents to see how these changes in service levels would raise or lower their taxes.

• This process educated residents on the Town’s various services, while asking them to provide feedback based on the Town’s current service levels and budget.
• Ethelo used the results to generate a particular set of funding changes that are predicted to have the most community support.

Participation

• Unique Viewers: 802
• Participants: 73
• Average Time Per Page: 1 Minute

Overview

The Ethelo platform took into account all participant input in order to find the budget allocation scenario that is predicted to be most widely supported by View Royal residents. This scenario is presented below.

Topic Weighting

• Protective Services: 15%
• Parks Services: 14%
• Transportation Services: 13%
• Environmental Health Services: 12%
• Reserve Contributions and Debt: 12%
• Development Services: 12%
• General Government Services: 11%
• Recreation and Cultural Services: 11%

Voting Results

Funding for General Government Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 53%
• 4% Decrease: 19%
• 1% Decrease: 12%
• 1% Increase: 7%
• 2% Increase: 3%
• 3% Increase: 3%
• 3% Decrease: 2%

Funding Development Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 50%
• 1% Decrease: 13%
• 1% Increase: 12%
• 4% Decrease: 10%
• 2% Decrease: 7%
• 4% Increase: 5%
• 3% Decrease: 2%
• 2% Increase: 2%

Funding for Parks Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 37%
• 1% Increase: 13%
• 4% Increase: 12%
• 4% Decrease: 12%
• 2% Increase: 8%
• 1% Decrease: 8%
• 2% Decrease: 5%
• 3% Increase: 3%
• 3% Decrease: 2%

Funding Transportation Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 34%
• 4% Decrease: 15%
• 4% Increase: 14%
• 1% Increase: 9%
• 1% Decrease: 9%
• 3% Increase: 6%
• 2% Increase: 5%
• 2% Decrease: 5%
• 3% Decrease: 3%

Funding Protective Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 33%
• 4% Increase: 17%
• 4% Decrease: 13%
• 1% Increase: 10%
• 1% Decrease: 8%
• 3% Increase: 6%
• 2% Increase: 6%
• 2% Decrease: 6%

Funding for Reserve Contributions and Debt

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 47%
• 1% Increase: 16%
• 4% Decrease: 12%
• 2% Increase: 9%
• 2% Decrease: 7%
• 1% Decrease: 5%
• 4% Increase: 3%
• 3% Decrease: 2%

Funding Recreation and Cultural Services

Most Popular: Keep the Same

• Keep the Same: 50%
• 4% Decrease: 17%
• 1% Decrease: 10%
• 2% Decrease: 7%
• 1% Increase: 7%
• 3% Decrease: 3%
• 3% Increase: 3%
• 2% Increase: 3%

Environmental Health Services

Respondents were asked to indicate their satisfaction with the level or service they have received from View Royal garbage and household food waste collection.

• Very satisfied: 41%
• Fairly satisfied: 32%
• Fairly unsatisfied: 7%
• Neither satisfied or unsatisfied: 7%
• Not applicable: 7%
• Very unsatisfied: 4%

Survey Results

About you

Age

Respondents were asked to indicate their age.*

• 40-54: 32%
• 55-69: 30%
• 25-39: 29%
• 70 or older: 10%

*Not Included: Under 24, Prefer not to answer (0%)

Household Income

Respondents were asked to indicate their household income.

• Over $75,000: 73%
• Prefer not to answer: 16%
• $50,000 to $75,000: 6%
• $25,000 to $50,000: 3%
• Under $25,000: 2%

Household Status

Respondents were asked to indicate their household status.*

• Owner: 94%
• Renter: 6%

*Not Included: Other (0%)

Residency

Respondents were asked to indicate how long they have lived in View Royal.

• 10 years or more: 44%
• 6-9 years: 21%
• 2-5 years: 19%
• Less than 2 years: 16%

*Not Included: I don’t live in View Royal (0%)

Feedback

Friend Referral

Respondents were asked to indicate their whether or not they would refer this process to a friend.

• Yes: 74%
• No: 26%

Other Processes

Respondents were asked to indicate if they would like to see Ethelo used for other processes in their community.

• Yes: 81%
• No: 19%

Support for Final Decision

Respondents were asked to indicate if they would be more likely to support a government decision if they knew it was based on the results of a process like this.

• Yes: 68%
• No: 32%

Support for Group Results

Respondents were asked to indicate if they would support the collective budget outcome on the group results page.

• Yes: 68%
• No: 32%

Important Issues

Respondents were asked to select the top three issues that should receive the greatest attention from View Royal.

• Cost to property owner: 54%
• Fire protection and emergency planning: 46%
• Parks, playgrounds and other recreation facilities: 43%
• Crime: 43%
• Transportation: 34%
• Climate change/action: 31%
• Affordable housing: 15%
• Other: 9%
• Arts and cultural events/facilities: 3%

Process Evaluation

Respondents were asked to rate their experience using this process (0 = awful, 10 = excellent).

• 0: 0%
• 1: 0%
• 2: 3%
• 3: 16%
• 4: 3%
• 5: 7%
• 6: 3%
• 7: 13%
• 8: 22%
• 9: 19%
• 10: 13%

Services Survey Results

Based on services provided by View Royal, respondents were asked to describe the value they receive from their tax dollars.

• Fairly good value: 62%
• Very good value: 25%
• Fairly poor value: 6%
• Not applicable: 3%
• Very poor value: 3%

Thank you!