It's budget time around the region. Decisions are being made, and have been made, by elected officials on where to spend taxpayer funds for next year.
These are decisions that local taxpayers must be a part of. This is funding from the closest level of government to the people which truly affects the everyday lives of residents.
From whether to buy one, two, or no robot lawn mowers for municipal parks, to whether grants will be increased for long-serving organizations that assist the less fortunate, whether policing budgets will be increased to staffing levels at local recreation facilities, the local budget process affects every person within the municipality.
It's a big deal that not many residents fully embrace.
Most years, and this one is no different, municipalities hope to see more faces at public consultations over the coming budget decisions. And more times than not, the budget open house meetings don't draw the amount of people they should. Rooms are mainly occupied by municipal administrators and a few elected officials looking at charted displays and waiting for questions that often never come … until the budgets are finalized and decisions are put in place months later.
These hyper-local decisions that lay out the next funding map for the municipality affect more residents directly than any other.
Of course many will say there are too many distractions in the world around them to keep their attention on local matters. The US elections, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising tensions coming from China and North Korea…the global distractions continue. Even within the provincial borders, the distractions are as thick as the political rhetoric; mail strikes, possible rail strikes, healthcare system issues, oil and gas, Indigenous issues, crime …and that’s all before the every-day, every-family issues , tensions and pressures that must also be dealt with.
It's really no wonder residents leave the local budgeting to the elected officials , hoping they do a good job. It's just that when you look at the big picture of how lives will be acutely affected by every local dollar decision, residents should give more input than just a little hope.
Councils across the Lakeland are asking for public input, and they are asking for it (this is the important part) before decisions are made. Most councils want to finalize their budgets by the end of the month. Officially, they need their 2025 budgets prepared by the end of December. There's time. Pull away from the Donald Trump fallout, Danielle Smith's latest sound-bite, and the global distractions for a few minutes, and take an interest in immediate matters much closer to home. Unfortunately, the other stuff will still be there when you’re done.
