City Councillors set to hear from the public on Consultation Night in Prince Rupert

Tonight's City Council session is set to serve as the first of two public forums on the City's financial blue print for 2019, as Council members look to hear from the public on what they may see as priorities for the city to consider as they work towards their final budget deliberations of the Spring.

Towards providing some background for residents to consider, the City recently posted some background material on the Budget plan, which includes some observations from the Mayor, City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, all of whom explore a number of themes that they want to highlight from this years financial plan.

The presentation (which you can review here) put a focus on some of the new revenue streams the city is tapping, including some notes Watson Island, while the challenges posed by such concerns as Port tax caps and the Ridley Island Tax Agreement with Port Edward also shaped some of the narrative.

Some helpful charts in the document also help to put both the revenue and spending categories into perspective, giving residents a chance to understand how Council determines where they believe the money has to be allocated

You can review some of our past notes on the Budget preparation here.

Members of the City's Select Committee on council remuneration
delivered their final report last month, members of the public have an
opportunity to share their thoughts on it tonight at the City Council meeting

Also to be up for discussion if the public is inclined are the recent findings of the City's Select Committee on Council Remuneration. That panel of five provided for a range of recommendations for council to act on, including the re-establishment of full time status and pay for Mayor Lee Brain, with a recommended compensation of 75,000 dollars a year.

The report also called for the city to absorb the expense of the lost tax free status from changes to the Canada Revenue Act, as well as to provide Council members with raises of their own.

The city website hasn't provided quite as much information on the Salary Committee findings, as they have for the Budget planning. With the city information portal yet to deliver similar material on the salary recommendations as has been produced on the financial plan.

The topic has however been part of the newsfeed on the Mayor's Facebook page, along with a reminder of tonight's consultation process.

Last week we offered up some background on the Select Committee presentation of February you can find our follow up notes on the theme here.

Tonight's public engagement session is the first of two such opportunities, with the second one set for the end of the Month and the March 25th City Council session.

A look at what else is up for discussion at tonight's Council session can be found from our preview here.

For more items of note related to City Council discussions see our archive page here.

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