City consults Calgarians on how to budget for next 4 years

The city has launched a program aimed at gettingCalgariansinvolved in how city tax dollars are spent.

The public consultation will involve at least 20public engagement eventsthis month, as well as a website whereCalgariansare invited to build their own version of the city'supcoming four-year budget.

The events will take place across the city at malls, dog parks, and LRT stations, as well as a special transit bus.

The last budget consultation three years ago,criticized by some council members,was done by outside consultants and cost $900,000.

What do you want your city to do more of? What do you want your city to do less of? How should we pay for it?- Calgary Mayor NaheedNenshi

This year the consultation willbe done by city officials and will cost $550,000, says the city'sSarah Woodgate.

"The Take Action bus will be going to communities to meet with citizens, rather than traditional open houses. We anticipate that this is a better approach. As well as the multifaceted online tools," said Woodgate.

Citizens as experts

MayorNaheedNenshisays five per cent annual property tax hikes are not sustainable,so he wants to hear from the people he calls experts Calgarians.

"What do you want your city to do more of? What do you want your city to do less of? How should we pay for it? And that's really what we're talking about when we're talking about this kind of engagement," said Nenshi.

Nenshi added that the city is not allowed to run a deficit, so city budget-makersare forced to figure out how to balance the books.

"Now the data show us, when we look at the citizen satisfaction survey, the data very clearly show that people think they're getting good value for their tax dollar. Much better than they were three years ago."

A projection for future property tax rates will go to city council in May.

Council will finalize the four-year budget in November.