Five residents aired their concerns April 30 during a public meeting regarding Rocky View County’s (RVC) proposed 2013 budget, which was set to go before council May 7 for final approval.
Some said the draft budget provided to the public wasn’t clear and left out information. Others were hoping council would consider including their group’s funding request in the final budget.
Council approved the draft budget last December and approved additional adjustments in March.
It includes $37.5 million in capital projects and $136 million in operational spending with an expected three per cent increase in taxes.
Adjustments made in March included an agreement to use $1 million of taxpayer dollars to go towards the county’s $75-million debt. Other changes include spending $100,000 for Springbank Fire Station repairs, an additional $69,000 for a possible enhanced RCMP position and an additional $295,850 for four new peace officer positions.
“If there were explanatory notes, I could understand this better,” said Springbank resident Gloria Wilkinson, who spoke before council.
For example, she noted that under each department a large amount of money was budgeted for “contracted and general services” but there was no explanation or detail for what this is.
Another Springbank resident, Jerry Arshinoff, had similar concerns.
“I had difficulty understanding it, there’s no detail or explanatory notes,” he said.
He questioned why under community services salaries there has been an increase of $97,000 from 2012 to 2013 but a note in the budget shows there are fewer employees.
“Why is it (the budget) going up if positions are reduced? I’m sure there’s a good reason,” he said, adding there is no way for the public to know what that is.
Councillor Earl Solberg said “council spends hundreds of hours going through the budget in workshops.”
Councillor Margaret Bahcheli said while council may get the chance to review the budget in detail, she was “sympathetic to the public.”
She used Mountain View County as an example and said it provides full disclosure on its website on how exactly dollars are spent.
Councillor Greg Boehlke said there needs to be more description with “what’s going on.”
He said it’s one thing for council to know what is happening, but said the public should have access to that information as well.
Kent Robinson, manager of corporate services who prepared the draft budget, said he “struggles” with how to best present it to council and the public.
He said the information is available but not included in the document provided to the public.
He said he has worked individually with people who have contacted the county with specific concerns and will continue to respond to queries from the public.
People who asked for funding requests included Sarah Leete, president of the Little Creeks and Rough Fescue Appreciation Society, Gwynn Butler with the Western Rocky View Communities Development Society (CDS) and Paul Siller with the Rocky View Regional Handibus Society.
Leete requested consideration between $7,500 to $10,000 for an ongoing water management project for the Horse Creek Watershed.
Butler asked for $50,000 for the first of a three-year process to create a community based aging plan for RVC, which will determine senior housing and aging needs.
Siller said the handibus provides service in eight of the nine electoral divisions within the county and asked council to consider setting money aside in its budget for transportation.
