New West residents can share input on the city’s 2023 budget at Monday’s council meeting.
At a special council meeting on April 17, community members will have a chance to share their thoughts on the 2023 to 2027 financial plan with council and city staff. That’s the night that the draft financial plan bylaw will be presented to council for three readings.
In late March, council directed staff to prepare a financial play bylaw that incorporated a 6.4 per cent property tax increase and a $173.2-million capital budget for 2023.
A staff report stated the city is required by the Community Charter to annually adopt a five-year financial plan bylaw before May 15, so staff are recommending that council consider three readings of the bylaw at Monday’s meeting.
Anyone wishing to provide input on the 2023 to 2027 plan can email the city’s finance department at [email protected]. People can also drop off written comments (to the CFO/director of finance) in the mailbox on the north side of city hall (by the parking lot).
All written comments must be received by the start of the meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 17.
People wishing to speak at the April 17 meeting, either in-person or via Zoom, can sign up at speakers.newwestcity.ca or 604-527-4523. More information can be found at www.newwestcity.ca/council.
Since being sworn in to council after the October 2022 civic election, members of city council have attended numerous onboarding sessions, as a new mayor and four new councillors were elected. In addition to onboarding sessions focused on various aspects of the City of New Westminster, council has also attended workshops and meetings related to the utilities, capital and operational budgets.
At its March 27 meeting, council voted 5-2 in favour of instructing staff to convert the draft 2023 to 2026 financial plan into a bylaw that reflects a 6.4 per cent tax hike for 2023 and a $173.2-million capital budget. Mayor Patrick Johnstone and councillors Ruby Campbell, Tasha Henderson, Jaimie McEvoy and Nadine Nakagawa supported the staff recommendation, while councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas opposed.
At the same meeting, Fontaine circulated an on-table motion for council’s consideration that proposed a large number of changes to items in the budget, with that motion being defeated in a 5-2 vote that included a heated discussion in council chambers.
While council members have had many opportunities to discuss the 2023 budget, some councillors have noted that there hasn’t been the same level of public engagement about the budget that’s occurred in past years.
Coun. Ruby Campbell said the city wasn’t able to do a robust public engagement process about the budget because of the timing of the civic election.
“I know that there used there was at one time, a little bit more robust kind of involvement. … and we couldn’t do that, just because of the timing with the election,” she said at the March 27 meeting. “So, I look forward to having that in the next round, so that we can really ensure that the community is involved in the process.”
