The Budget Open House provides an opportunity for residents to:

• understand how their tax dollars are invested;
• learn more about how local government operates to support day-to-day needs;
• gain knowledge about the limitations of the District’s budget;
• ask questions of staff; and
• get to know the people of the organization.

The 2023 event was scheduled for Wednesday, April 19, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and took place at the municipal hall in Council Chambers.

Event promotions included a press release (and related media coverage), a digital roadside marquee displayed at Sooke Elementary, poster signage at the municipal hall, advertising on the website, and communications through the District’s electronic mailing lists and Twitter feed.

Resulting participation in the budget open house, which is historically low and this year remained as such, saw 23 attendees – an increase from 11 the year prior.

In addition to the in-person event, residents were invited to ask questions and provide comments by email to budget@sooke.ca. One email was received during the period of this prompt, February 24, 2023 to April 19, 2023 and is included in this update.

Generally[1], feedback was positive and attendees appreciated receiving information and the opportunity to ask questions about numerous service areas in a “one-stop shop.”

While a formal survey of guest experience was not conducted, when asked “How did you hear about the event?” attendees reported the digital roadside marquee and District e-notifications (newsletter and public participation email).

• View the Open House Storyboards

Lessons Learned

Staff are keen to apply learning from the feedback received to continually enhance the engagement experience and respond to the information needs of residents. Lessons include from the open house include:

1. Provide further clarity on municipal tax rate and service comparison chart.

The initial storyboard indicated “services between municipalities vary.” However, this was not effectively emphasized. As such, staff have updated this information to provide more clarity as this chart is referenced throughout the year and will be updated as soon as 2023 data is available.

2. Weekday or weekend?

Feedback received during the event suggested a date on the weekend may be more suitable to draw more attendance. In response to this feedback and as a question staff are keen to understand, staff will add a one-question “poll” to the 2024 Let’s Talk Budget Page. By having the poll available during the conversation for an extended period, we may be better informed to respond to the needs of the community and increase attendance at the annual Budget Open House.

Through ongoing feedback, we receive mixed responses on residents’ preference for weekday afternoon and evening or a weekend time for this conversation. Specific to 2023, we were limited with event availability for a combination of reasons including scheduling conflicts that impacted timelines of the service-level review and, subsequently, the timing of readings of the five-year financial plan bylaw and the May 15^th legislative deadline to adopt the tax rate bylaw.

3. When other agency information is known, have it readily available – including historical data.

One attendee was concerned about a perceived lack of transparency given the District reporting a 6.99% or an approximate $100 increase when the total tax bill will show a higher amount. To further clarify, the 6.99% refers to the District service portion of the tax bill only which is consistently included in all related information materials.

All costs are reported on one tax notice so that property owners do not have to deal with multiple bills. While other agency information is available, staff will ensure this is more readability available and will have historic information in this regard at the event to ensure greater clarity can be provided.

By the Numbers

• 417 letstalk.sooke.ca/budget page views (compared to 440 last year)
• Electronic notifications:
  1. Public Participation mailing list: delivered to 459; opened by 302 (65.8% open rate)
     • 2022 Comparison: delivered 422; opened by 228 (54% open rate)
  2. Monthly newsletter (March): delivered to 628; opened by 426 (67.8% open rate)
     • 2022 Comparison: delivered to 558; opened by 271 (48.5% open rate)
• 23 Attendees at Open House (Compared to 11 last year)
• 0 Phone calls (compared to 1 call in 2022)
• 1 Email Received

Questions

Email submissions

Q: Does anyone discuss where to cut back and things that can be reduced/eliminated to find savings? If so, what?

A: Absolutely! Within what is referred to as “discretionary” expenses, Council provides direction on adjustments to service levels. In the case of the service level undertaken this year, adjustments (decreases) are being made in areas of Council travel, IT software, facility maintenance and snow removal to name a few.

Did you participate in our citizen budget survey last year? I ask as this is the information the survey hopes to receive from residents:

Where do you want to see service level increases/decreases– or remain status quo?

Please note this annual survey is available from mid-June to mid-July each year.

To provide more background on the budget and related process, after receiving this input from residents, staff prioritize service areas and limit or decrease spending in particular areas. Given the current rate of inflation, this is particularly challenging this year; however, I am pleased to share we have received grants in some areas so that the property tax impact on certain services is reduced. Currently, the District’s proposed increase (the budget is still under development) appears to be among the lowest in the region on a per dollar per residential property basis.

Operationally, we also make changes that offer cost-effective solutions: moving the sandbag stations from the secured area of the Parks Yard that required staff to open to the open parking lot at Ed Macgregor Park is such an example. Now, this service is available 24/7 (during the applicable season) and the District’s related expenses are reduced.

I hope this provides some reassurance about how we’re working to maximize every residential property tax dollar. To stay informed on the budget and learn more about our budget process, please visit letstalk.sooke.ca/budget.

Information compiled by Christina Moog, Communications Coordinator

[1] 21 of 23 attendees expressed positive feedback; 1 attendee expressed “strong opposition” to a 6.99% municipal tax increase; 1 expressed opposition to sewer serving fees