Royal City residents will no sooner have paid their 2012 property taxes and they'll get a chance to offer input about the 2013 budget.
The 2013 is getting underway with prebudget planning and an overview of the 2013 financial plan. An online survey for residents will help guide the city's budget deliberations, which will take place between October 2012 and January 2013.
"It will commence about mid-August and go to September," said finance director Gary Holowatiuk about the survey that will be posted on the city's website. Coun. Chuck Puchmayr expressed concern that some seniors may not have the ability to participate if they're not computer savvy. Holowatiuk said hard copies of the survey can be made available to the community.
"I'd question the accuracy of this type of online survey," said Coun. Bill Harper.
Holowatiuk said the city did an online survey and had Ipsos Reid do a survey for the city in 2009.
"The results were comparable," he noted. "It didn't seem that one was skewed way out of whack from the other method."
The city's goal is to present a draft financial plan for the general fund and property taxes to city council in December or January, to complete the public consultation process in February 2013, and to adopt the financial plan bylaw in March 2013.
