Appendix C: Project Summary N-65 – Online citizen budget engagement

Project Summary

Priority: Strategic Project Name: Online citizen budget engagement Project Code: 1-2-01200-580 CC120-03 Submitted by: Dawn Christenson, Director of Finance

Executive Summary

One of the Strategic Plan’s stated goals is “Strong and active citizen participation in community engagement” including that for budget development. An online citizen engagement tool specific to budget provides real-time, objective and transparent communication about budget spending priorities and collects informed feedback to Council. A portion of the costs are offset by eliminating the public open house normally held during the budget process which in past has been poorly attended.

Business problem and opportunity

Council meetings at which the budget is debated are open to the public and information about the budget is available on View Royal’s website. Previously, a Budget Open House was held annually. Leading up to the 2020 budget, Council approved a two-year pilot project for an online tool that invites citizens to “adjust” budget spending through an interactive journey and displays the corresponding impact to their estimated taxes. Responses are securely aggregated, analyzed and reported to Council after the engagement period is over (normally 2 weeks).

The pilot program showed participation in the online engagement tool far in excess of the typical attendance at a public open house, with 802 unique visitors in 2021 (170 in 2020) and 73 participants (82 in 2020). See attached links to 2020-2021 reports.

Proposed project objectives

To increase the level of community engagement during the budget process by deploying an online interactive tool that informs citizens and collects their feedback about budget priorities. The online tool is deployed after the proposed budget is approved by Council at the February budget workshops and is open for citizen feedback for 2 weeks prior to adoption of the budget bylaw.

Business risks

To the extent that citizens can convey their spending priorities, Council will be more fully informed. Without this information, Council may make budget decisions without clearly understanding the level of citizen support.

Proposed sources of funding

Taxation

Costs and benefits

Costs	FY1	FY2	FY3	FY4	FY5	5-year Total
Capital						0
Operational	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	30,000
Total	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	30,000

Benefits
Tangible	Direct feedback from citizens regarding budget spending priorities
Intangible	Greater citizen engagement and transparency

Recommendation

THAT the Committee recommend the 2022-2026 Financial Plan include online citizen budget engagement to be funded by taxation.