By Mayor Julius Bloomfield
With the release of the proposed 2024-2028 Financial and Corporate Business Plan, we’re now entering a key part of the process – your input.
The impact of inflation is being felt in homes and businesses across the community and the City of Penticton is no different. The cost of supplies essential to the operation of core services are on the rise and, along with contractual obligations, have a clearly defined effect on this budget. That’s why the proposed budget includes an estimated two per cent increase that specifically deals with these fixed outlays.
Another portion of the budget is targeted at incremental costs, what do we need to do in order to ensure the service levels you expect are maintained. Residents rightly expect a high level of service whether it is road cleaning or clean parks to investments in community safety.
As the community grows (and we’re growing, as the stats show Penticton grew by nearly two per cent between 2016 and 2021), the amount needed to meet those expected service levels also increases. This year, the proposed budget limits those to approximately one per cent.
Those two elements amount to about $1.3 million of the proposed increases. Like you at home, we face some fixed costs and some expenses that we need to do. The budget doesn’t include any new large spending and is focused on keeping costs down while still delivering for you.
And that brings us to how we deal with the deferral. In 2022, council made the decision to make significant investments in public safety – more police, more fire fighters and an expansion of the Community Safety Officer program and to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. It was the right decision but it came with a price tag. At the time, council made the decision to defer the full impact and that cost was to be phased in over the following three budget cycles.
Last year, was year one and the deferral came in at just over three per cent. This year, the proposal is to bundle the final two years of the deferrals into this budget and not have to deal with them next year. The cost of the deferral so far has been borne by taking funds out of the reserves and that’s not a sustainable model.
Making these budget decisions are never easy. Council is a steward of your money and we try to invest wisely to make sure the priorities we’ve established for Penticton – safe and resilient, livable and accessible, vibrant and connected and organizational excellence – are met in a responsible way.
This is where your feedback is important.
As part of the upcoming budget process, residents are invited to get involved, learn more and share your feedback. You can find information about the upcoming budget and the opportunities to get involved at shapeyourcitypenticton.ca.
One of the main opportunities will be at the Council-hosted Open House set for Thursday, October 26 at the Trade and Convention Centre. Drop by between 4 pm to 7 p.m. to speak to Council and members of staff. There will also be an online engagement process to ensure everyone has a chance to provide input.
We have some very important issues to deal with this term and we encourage residents to take steps now to get involved in the future of the community in ways they may never have before – beginning with attending this Council Open House. We look forward to seeing you there.