Category: Budgeting and City Finances
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City Budget – Your Input Needed
City Council is about to make the most important decision it makes each year, and we’d like your help. Join us at the Budget Town Hall this Thursday November 30th. Or take the survey here. How does the annual budgeting process work? At the beginning of the term Council set objectives for the City through…
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Who is paying for those bike lanes anyway?
The Pandora two-way separated bike lane opened on time and on budget on May 1st. It’s been open for a month now and the use has been staggering. Preliminary data reveal that we’re seeing well over 1000 people per day using the infrastructure. This is a marked increase from usage on Pandora before the lanes…
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Victoria Is Part of a Growing Movement to Put Spending Decisions in Hands of Taxpayers
Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 For Immediate Release VICTORIA, BC – Victoria’s first participatory budgeting process kicks-off Thursday with an opportunity for residents to learn more about participatory budgeting and begin to design a process where the community decides how to spend $60,000 in Victoria. PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING KICK OFF Thursday, January 12, 2017 5 p.m.…
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City Plan. City Budget. We Need YOUR Input!
It’s strategic plan time! It’s budget time! And we need your input. Mayor and Council have been working hard for the past two months to put together a bold and innovative strategic plan that will shape the direction we all go together for the next four years. The plan is not a nice wish list. It’s a…
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What is a Strategic Plan and How Do We Make One?
A strategic plan is not a wish list or a to do list. It’s not a simple list of priorities. It’s not a list of tactics or actions. A strategic plan is a ‘living document’ set by a board of directors – in this case Council – to guide the strategic focus of the organization…
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Property Taxes 101
Property taxes have gone up 26% over the last six years. Good tax policy and living within our means is needed to create an affordable city for Victoria’s residents and businesses alike. I have a plan to keep property taxes in line with inflation, or better for the next four years. I also have thoughts…
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Public Art and the Johnson Street Bridge
I stopped in to see John the singing grocer, as he’s affectionately known, in Cook Street Village today. The first words that crossed his lips, “So, what do you think of the public art proposed for the Johnson Street bridge?” I asked him his thoughts. He said that good welcoming landscaping could take the place of art.…
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Permissive Tax Exemption Policy
This Thursday May 23rd, Victoria City Council will be making a decision with regard to permissive tax exemptions. Here’s my take. Please feel free to share. In 2004 Council created a policy that all new applications for permissive tax exemptions that provided regional services would a get 50% permissive tax exemption; all regional organizations that…
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Citizens’ Budget Workshops – Report Out
Preliminary Budget Feedback from Residents (PDF) In the election a year ago, citizens were concerned about their taxes and the escalating costs of living in Victoria. As a new councilor, I learned that the City has many built-in costs that escalate year after year. Bringing these under control will need continuous hard work at City…
