November 26, 2013 - 12:29 PM
PENTICTON — Annual financial planning is underway at the City of Penticton for 2014, and residents, businesses and stakeholders are invited to take part.
“Approving the City of Penticton budget is a great deal of work, with hours devoted to reviewing expenses line by line to ensure appropriate service levels and spending. It is an intensive process, but an important part of building this vibrant community and focusing on economic opportunities,” said Mayor Garry Litke. “We welcome all citizens to be part of the process, as their input helps Council with the important decisions to come.”
Annual budget deliberations for the municipality take multiple days to go through, and cover a wide array of spending decisions in both operating and capital budgets. Public input and feedback during the presentations are important, and time will be set aside each day at 8:45 a.m. to allow citizens and stakeholders to ask questions, provide comments and give suggestions related to that day’s topics.
Those whose schedules don’t permit daytime meetings can also take part. All budget meetings will be streamed live on the City of Penticton’s website: www.penticton.ca/live-video, and the online video functions on all platforms and mobile devices. City staff will also be monitoring Twitter on the @cityofpenticton account. Citizens can use the hashtag #penbudget14 to give the City comments, suggestions and questions. Responses will be provided directly back to the original poster as soon as they are available.
The 2014 budget meeting schedule is as follows:
- Friday, Nov. 29 at 8:45 a.m. to 4:35 p.m.: financial overview, strategic priorities, capital budgets
- Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 3 to 6 p.m.: municipal grants
- Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 8:45 a.m. to 4:10 p.m.: operating budgets
- Friday, Dec. 6 from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.: operating budgets
- Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 10 a.m.: revenue, reserves and rates
All meetings are scheduled to take place in Council Chambers in City Hall. Budget presentations are available online as well. Visit www.penticton.ca/Budget to download the files.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013