City to Hold Budget eTown Hall Meeting - March 10, 2020

Port Alberni, BC – The City of Port Alberni invites residents to participate in an eTown Hall Budget Meeting on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at 7:00 p.m.

While the event takes place in Council Chambers at City Hall (4850 Argyle Street), the eTown format will allow for comments and questions to be received from those in attendance, as well as those viewing from the comfort of their home.

The meeting will focus on the City’s draft 2020 - 2024 budget, which was introduced in November 2019 with a proposed tax increase of 7.5 per cent for the average single-family. The City has since held eight meetings (Regular Meetings of Council and Committees of the Whole) to discuss the budget in detail. With feedback from the public, City staff and members of the Committee/Council, the proposed taxation rate now sits at 4.3 per cent.

“Consideration of the draft budget is a lengthy process and rightly so, the decisions made today will impact Port Alberni for years to come,” said Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions. “It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to build the preliminary budget, which is based on the stated goals of Council, the City’s Corporate Strategic Plan and staff recommendations. Once the preliminary budget is drafted, it enters into a review and amendment process through Committee of the Whole meetings and Regular Meetings of Council. It is in this space that the public helps Council shape the outcome.

On March 10th, we want to see a high level of public engagement. By setting the meeting in the evening hours and making it interactive through social media, we hope community members will voice their opinions, suggest new ideas, and ask questions. This is an essential step in the process and one that Council and the City greatly value,” concluded Mayor Minions.

Residents can participate in the following ways:

In-person – All are welcome to attend the meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall. Participants attending the meeting, who wish to ask questions or provide comments, will be invited to comment via the microphone for broadcasting purposes.

Online – The meeting will be broadcast live. Online participants can submit questions through one of the following channels:

          • Email – email citypa@portalberni.ca
          • Facebook – like our page (@CityofPortAlberni) and post questions to the event page 
          • Twitter – Tweet questions or comments to @cityportalberni or by using the hashtag #BudgetPA2020

Questions can be submitted online prior to and/or during the meeting (question period will open on Monday, March 9th at 3:30 pm). Due to time limitations, if there are several similar questions, only one may be put forward. Every effort will be made to address as many questions as possible.

For a copy of the draft Five Year Financial Plan, click here.