Town brings budget to the people

Mayor Ernie Olsen at Budget Display
T.Lucas photos

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

Town of Pincher Creek Staff, Councillors and the Mayor operated a booth at the Ranchland Mall from March 18 - 21 in an attempt to bring current budget for the Town of Pincher Creek to its citizens.   This year the Town has prepared a two-year budget to cover 2013 through 2014.

Councillor Lorne Jackson

Councillor Lorne Jackson remarked that the display makes it easier to see how tax dollars are being spent, highlighting the majority of purposes that those dollars are intended for.  "I've had some good conversations and I'm impressed at the questions, and the insights people have shared," he said when asked  how public response to this initiative of bring the display to the mall has been received.

Jackson said it has always been a mandate of the current council to keep the municipal tax increases to a manageable level.  He is pleased to be a part of the current council, seeing it as a fiscally conservative council with a good working relationship with the Municipal District of Pincher Creek.  He also expressed happiness to be able to visibly demonstrate the long range multi-year planning reflected by the current budget.

Director of Operations Al Roth

Director of Operations Al Roth said that the display was a guide "To help inform the public of the annual budget and see where your money's being spent."  He explained that previously the Town of Pincher Creek set up a public meeting where everyone was invited to come and see this same information at Town Hall, but finds this way of taking it to the public "Way more interactive and allows people to formulate questions better."  As Director of Operations Roth has responsibility over a large part of the budget that includes streets, roads, garbage, sewer, water and all utilities.

Roth would like to see more people using the new "Citizens Request" function on the lower right hand portion of the front page of the town website.  He demonstrated this as an instantaneous form of communication that works to inform the department, the workers, staff and administration of a citizens issue or request immediately through their emails and on their cell phones.  "That tool alone is going to make things much more streamlined," Roth said, referring to how quickly people could get the information to the staff that it pertained to.  When asked what were his greatest challenges in his role, Roth said it was "Juggling with changing priorities with limited resources of money, manpower, and time."

Councillor Murray Lauder

Councillor Murray Lauder said that the budget display was to show the ratepayers what the budget was derived from with the revenues and expenditures laid out.  He was appreciative of the administrative staff that set it all up.  "I thought it was well done, and not too overwhelming.  The discussions have been good, it kind of goes with the flow of the mall."

Mayor Olsen was pleased with the results of the display, although he said that many people had already visited the booth and had their questions answered by the day that he took his turn at the display.  Olsen explained that each director works on their own budget starting in the summer, and it takes many meetings to develop the budget with so many factors.  He expressed that it is good to see that the two year budget is set in place.  "When a new council comes in, the first thing they go to work on is the budget, in the past."

 "The Town of Pincher Creek is in the best shape economically of any town in southwest Alberta," said Olsen.

Related link:
Town endeavors to bring the budget to the people (Councillor Don Anderberg).