Monday, March 25, 2019

Last Call to speak on the Budget plan at City Hall

The city's community engagement process on the 2019 Budget winds down this evening with the last of the public comment periods for this years program of consultation.

Serving as the vehicle of that consultation will be the Committee of the Whole portion of tonight's City Council session, which will offer one final chance for residents to weigh in with comments or questions of the Council membership.

The night making for the last word when it comes to the Financial plan delivered by the City's Financial Officer last month.

The first session of two weeks ago was a sparsely attended gathering, with only two residents offering up questions or suggestions to the members of Council and with Spring Break still underway for residents of the North Coast, tonight's opportunity for comment may not fare much better in the attendance count.

As part of the public engagement process, those in attendance tonight will receive one more short presentation from Ms. Corrine Bomben, before the microphone will be turned over to the members of the public.

You can review the notes from the CFO's Financial Blue Print from our Budget Archive page here.

Councillor Barry Cunningham took to his Facebook page last week to remind residents of this evening's final comment period, noting that without guidance Council will move forward with the understanding that the public agrees with their plan ahead.



Tonight's Committee of the Whole public comment period will also provide a chance for residents to provide some final guidance for city council as to how they may wish to move forward on their salary increase plans.

At the February 25th Council session, the Standing Select Committee provided it's recommendations for compensation for City Council members, included on the list was a return of the Mayor's position to that of full time status, with a salary of 75,000 dollars. Along with raises for City Councillors and for the municipal taxpayer to cover off the lost tax benefits on salary that were removed by the Federal Government at the end of December.

You can review the details of that report to Council here.

Residents of Prince Rupert can also offer their input on budget issues online, through the City's Rupert Talks initiative, which has a survey for residents to take part in on themes related to the 2019 Budget plan.

Tonight's Council session will get underway at 7PM, a Preview of what's ahead this evening can be found here.

For more notes of interest related to City Council themes see our Council Discussion archive page.



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