Vancouver City Council

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: February 26, 2003
Author/Local: Ken Bayne / 7223
RTS No. 03258
CC File No. 1605
Meeting Date: February 27, 2003.

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Financial Planning and Treasury Services

SUBJECT: 2003 Operating Budget: Public Consultation Process

CONSIDERATION

A. THAT the Director of Finance be instructed to proceed with a public opinion poll on the 2003 Operating Budget issues at an estimated cost of $20,000; source of funding to be the 2003 Operating Budget

B. THAT the Director of Finance be instructed to produce a "City Choice" flyer outlining the budget issues faced by Council at a cost of approximately $35,000; source of funding to be the 2003 Operating Budget

C. THAT Council approve a "Mayor's Forum" approach to seeking public input on the 2003 Operating Budget issues, at a cost to be determined; source of funding to be the 2003 Operating Budget.

D. THAT the City Clerk be instructed to identify a date for a public meeting on the 2003 Operating Budget to be held prior to April 8, 2003.

COMMENTS OF THE GENERAL MANAGER, CORPORATE SERVICES/DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

The General Manager of Corporate Services submits the choices for components of a public process related to the 2003 Operating Budget to Council for CONSIDERATION. However, in doing so it is noted that the timeframe for competing the public process related to the Operating Budget is very tight. Allowing time for putting public input in a format for reporting to Council on April 8, there will be less than three weeks available to complete the process, raising concerns about the effectiveness of some components of the process.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no policy that is directly applicable to this issue

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council input on a public consultation process related to the 2003 Operating Budget.

BACKGROUND

The 2003 Preliminary Operating Budget will be reported to Council on Tuesday March 11. This will be the first opportunity that Council will have to review the revenue and expenditure estimates. It is anticipated that the Interim Report on the budget will be reported to Council on April 8. The interim stage is the point at which it is expected that Council will make the decisions necessary to bring the budget into balance. This time frame will limit the options that the City has for consulting the public on the budget issues and providing them an opportunity to make their views known. As a result, it is important to have decisions made with respect to consultation options that Council wishes to utilize. The purpose of this report is to review the options that are available and seek Council decisions on which should be pursued.

DISCUSSION

The following options could be components of the public consultation process:

1. Survey of Public Opinion

The City has used surveys of public opinion in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002. This option involves the use of a professional polling firm to undertake telephone surveys with approximately 600 City residents. The sample would take into consideration a number of demographic characteristics to ensure the results represented the view of a statistically significant sample of the population. The survey would cost approximately $20,000 and take about 14 days to complete. If Council agrees that this is an appropriate tool in 2003, the polling would likely be done immediately after the budget is presented to Council on March 11.

The format of the recent surveys have generally been consistent, using a set of questions that were developed in 1997. Consistency has allowed us to develop trend information on a number of issues such as:

· The most important issues facing the City
· Perceptions of City services and property taxation
· Reactions to the budget options facing the City
· Acceptance of property tax increases
· Priorities for City services

The responses to the four surveys have been relatively consistent. Given that consistency and the fact that surveys have been done each of the last two years there is some question as to whether the results will indicate a significant shift in public perception.

Surveying has the advantage of providing statistically reliable input to the issues that are of interest to Council in making budget decisions, and at a relatively low cost. However, surveying does not engage the public in a dialogue of those issues.

1. Newspaper Flyer

The City has also made use of newspaper flyers distributed in the community newspapers and at City facilities. "City Choices" flyers were published in 1997 and 2002. In addition, we have traditionally used this vehicle to provide the public information about the City's Capital Planning process, including a flyer that was produced for the 2003 -2005 Capital Plan. The cost of developing and publishing approximately 145,000 copies of the flyer is estimated at $35,000 plus a considerable amount of staff time. Should Council choose this option, work would begin immediately on development of the flyer which would be published in a community newspaper on the weekend of March 15, 2003 and in a Chinese language paper as soon thereafter as possible. Distribution through Community Centres and Branch Libraries would take place the week of March 17. The flyer would also be available on the City's website. This will mean the flyer would be in the community for approximately three weeks before the interim estimates are presented to Council.

The flyer normally contains background information on the budget process, where the City spends its money and where it comes from and the issues that are facing Council in bringing the budget into balance. In the last few years, and certainly in the two years in which the flyer was produced, these issues tended to be choices between raising taxes to maintain City services at one extreme and cutting City services to keep tax increases down at the other. Given the timing of producing and publishing the flyer, a very similar format would have to be used in 2003.

An integral part of the flyer was the opportunities it offered for providing feedback on the issue identified. Flyers have contained a number of questions similar to those utilized in the public opinion poll. Time permitting, we have also made the questionnaire available on-line on the City's website.

The flyer is a good education piece for the public. It is especially valuable in years when there is a considerable budget "crisis" because it gives Council the opportunity to explain the issues to the public. In 2002, with no real budget crisis, although the potential of a sizable tax increase, some members of the public viewed the flyer as an attempt to justify a tax increase.

Our experience with the questionnaire responses has been poor. First, the survey is self-selecting meaning that the results do not necessarily reflect the perceptions of the community as a whole and add little value compared to more formal polling. Second, response rates have been low - below 700 responses - even when considerable time has been provided for response. With the budget timing in 2003, response times would have to be limited to about two weeks in order for staff to tabulate the results for report to Council. In short, the flyer is an excellent vehicle when Council wishes to engage the public in a dialogue related to a significant budget issue but has less value in seeking input on more routine matters.

2. Mayor's Forum

In 1997 there was a major budget problem to deal with because the Province reduced transfer payments to the City by $17 million. That year the City ran a series of meetings with community leaders called the "Mayor's Forum". Small groups of leaders from all segments of the community were invited by the Mayor to a series of one hour meetings (36 meetings in 5 weeks) to receive a briefing on the budget situation, to gain an understanding of Council's options and to provide input. The intent was that these individuals would take the message out to the community, thereby generating input to the budget decisions.

This was a very successful initiative because it attracted a lot of media attention and galvanized the community around the budget issue. However, it represented a considerable effort on the part of the Mayor and staff. This approach is particularly effective when there is a major issue to be addressed. It would be less effective in attracting public attention if there were no major problem at its focus.

A similar but more modest initiative could be utilized in 2003, using an approach similar to the one utilized for the Olympic question. One or two meetings, convened by the Mayor at which a short presentation on the budget issue is presented and the public is invited to respond would be one way to reconfigure this process. As we have little experience with this format, it is difficult to know what level of public response would be generated.

3. Public Meeting(s)

The City has not used specific public meetings to deal with the budget for many years. This followed from experience in the early 1980s where public meetings were poorly attended. Instead, Council invited the public to make its views known at regular Committee meetings at which the budget was being discussed.

If a "Mayor's Forum" format was not deemed necessary, Council could hold a special public meeting to hear input from individuals and groups on the decisions that have to be made. If that is Council's wish, then a meeting date proceeding the Interim Budget report on April 8 would have to be found.

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