I find budgets fascinating because they are the expression of everything we can and can’t do in our city, and the process is full of what we should have done and would love to do. I’ve marveled at historical serendipities and visionary actions; I’ve churned over recent and ancient bad decisions as well as downloads from other governments.
In a perfect world, it would be a pleasure to take all the tax and utility money spent in the last hundred years and design the ideal city for the future, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20, and priorities change.
We’ve been camping out at City Hall with our managers for several days. The big picture for 2011 was hugely expensive and council’s tax increase tolerance is not very liberal, so we sent the beleaguered managers back to sharpen their pencils and figure out where they could tighten things up, what service levels they could deliver, what savings and new money they could find, what reserves they could plumb. Council will be hearing all that on February 15, and then the public can have a go at it on February 23.
No matter what, we are forging ahead, as the city’s crest says, with our priorities of making a really excellent long-term plan for the city, fixing infrastructure, becoming more environmentally intelligent, helping with housing, working with our neighbours, and delivering clear communication. And we want to hold on to what makes Nelson inviting, vibrant, safe and business-friendly, so we can attract more residents and spread the tax burden around, right?
It’s tough juggling act. Please get involved — by reading the city’s website, checking out all the media conversations, dropping in at the public meetings, bending the ear of a councillor on the street and asking about things that are important to you. You can’t do all those things in a big city but you can easily do them here.
The results of these budget discussions are probably what you’d come up with if you were in councillor shoes at these meetings, but there is only a disconnect if you don’t hear the rationale.
Margaret Stacey shares this space Wednesdays with her Nelson city council colleagues