CITY OF VANCOUVER
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: |
November 30, 2004 | |
Author: |
Annette Klein | |
Phone No.: |
873-7789 | |
RTS No.: |
04735 | |
CC File No.: |
1605 | |
Meeting Date: |
December 14, 2004 |
TO: |
City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Corporate Services/Director of Finance in Consultation with the Corporate Management Team |
SUBJECT: |
2005 Operating Budget: Public Consultation |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council instruct the Director of Finance to proceed with a public consultation process as outlined in the report at a total cost of $95,000; source of funding to be the 2005 Operating Budget without offset.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager supports the foregoing recommendation.
COUNCIL POLICY
The Corporate Communications Division will consider diverse communities in decisions regarding City communications and outreach that concern requests for public involvement and public processes. These will include groups such as ethno-cultural, aboriginal, and gay/lesbian bisexual/ trans-gendered communities, people with disabilities, and faith-based organizations that serve targeted communities.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council input on a public consultation process related to the 2005 Operating Budget.
BACKGROUND
The 2005 Preliminary Operating Budget will be reported to Council on Tuesday January 18, 2005. This will be the first opportunity that Council will have to review the revenue and expenditure estimates, including new initiatives and new revenue sources. It is anticipated that the Interim Report on the budget will be reported to Council on March 15, 2005. The interim stage is the point at which it is expected that Council will make the decisions necessary to bring the budget into balance. The time between the Preliminary and Interim stages of the Operating Budget provides an opportunity for staff to obtain input from the public on service priorities and preferences to balancing the budget.
To provide the appropriate lead time to plan a public consultation event, staff are requesting approval of the public consultation process for the 2005 Operating Budget.
DISCUSSION
The Operating Budget deliberations have over the last few years included three forms of public consultation: Public Survey; Newspaper Flyer; and Mayor's Forums. The focus of the consultations was on obtaining public input on service priorities and preferred methods for balancing the budget.
Staff recommend a comprehensive public consultation for the 2005 Operating Budget due to the expected receipt of new revenues (Gaming Revenues and Provincial Traffic Fine Revenues) and generation of operating savings (Federal GST Rebate) and the anticipated requests for major new or enhanced services from Departments based on Council and/or Board directions or operational requirements.
The recommended process is as follows:
i) Survey of Public Opinion
The City has used surveys of public opinion in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. This consultation tool 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 firm provides translation services to ensure that all those contacted have the opportunity to provide input. The survey would cost approximately $25,000 and take about 14 days to complete. Polling would be done immediately after the Preliminary Budget report on January 18, 2005.
The format and the responses to the surveys has generally been consistent. The City has used a set of questions that were developed in 1997, allowing for trend information. Questions cover:
· 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; and
· priorities for City services
The survey will need to be expanded to address the new revenue sources and expenditure savings described above.
The telephone survey provides the City with an opportunity to obtain the views of taxpaying citizens who may not attend a public meeting or complete a questionnaire in a newspaper or on-line. It also has the advantage of providing us with statistically reliable input on issues that are of interest to Council in making its budget decisions at a relatively low cost for the number of responses. It also offers the City an opportunity to examine the trends in how citizens are feeling about different issues. The disadvantage, on the other hand, is that the survey does not engage the public in a dialogue on those issues.
ii) 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, 2002, 2003, and 2004. The cost of developing and publishing approximately 145,000 copies of the flyer is estimated at $35,000 plus staff time. The flyer would be published on the basis of the City's advertising policy in community and a Chinese language paper, distributed through Community Centres and Branch Libraries, and posted on the City's website. The flyer will most likely be published in the first week of February.
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, 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.
An integral part of the flyer was the opportunities it offered for providing feedback on the issues identified. Flyers contain a number of questions similar to those utilized in the public opinion poll. The questionnaire will also be made available on-line on the City's website and will be widely advertised.
The flyer is an educational vehicle for the public. It is especially valuable in years when there is a considerable budget challenge because it gives Council the opportunity to explain the issues to the public in more detail than a public survey.
The survey is self-selecting, and therefore, not statistically reliable: the results do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the community as a whole. Response rates have been low, usually less than 700 questionnaires have been returned, despite allowing a number of weeks for completion.
On the other hand, the flyer offers more citizens the opportunity to learn about the budget debate and the issues facing Council. In that way, it serves as a public education tool. As well, it provides one more avenue for residents, who for certain reasons may not attend a public meeting on the budget, to offer their opinion. 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.
Once again, the flyer would be modified to consider new revenues and expenditure savings.
iii) Mayor's Forums/Meetings
A "Mayor's Forum" was utilized in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, two meetings were convened by the Mayor at which a short presentation on the budget issue was presented and the public was invited to respond. In 2004, the Forums revolved around two themes - "Crime and Safety" and "Poverty, Homelessness and Provincial Offloading" - and included panel discussions. For 2005, the expectation would be that there would be more meetings but that they would be smaller and less formal. These forums/meetings are expected to be held in February 2005.
The estimated cost of holding these Mayor's Forums/Meetings is $25,000. This includes a number of meetings held in Community Centres and in the Mayor's Office. Costs relate to advertising (based on City policy), materials and room rentals.
iv) Communication Staffing:
Given the number of projects being managed by the Communications Department, additional resources will be required to assist in coordinating the public consultation process. Total funding required is $10,000.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The total estimated cost for the public consultation process is $95,000 and would be funded from the 2005 Operating Budget without offset.
Public Opinion Survey $25,000
Newspaper Flyer $35,000
Mayor's Forums/Meetings $25,000
Communications Resource $10,000
Total Funding Required $95,000
CONCLUSION
A public consultation as part of the budget process will provide Council with the opportunity to assess the public's views on service priorities, preferred methods for balancing the budget, and preferred methods for utilizing the new revenues that will be received/generated by the City in 2005. Staff, therefore, seek Council's direction on the public consultation process so that the information, along with other supporting analysis, may be available to Council as it deliberates over the 2005 Operating Budget in March.
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