By Brian Publicover
The City of Ottawa is missing the boat with its new approach to the preparation of the 1998 municipal budget by failing to consult Ottawa’s business community.
Building the Budget ‘98 is a new program seeking public input on the upcoming budget. Workshops will be used as a tool to discern what taxpayers feel demands immediate attention. Participants will be provided with an opportunity to tell their elected representatives how municipal dollars should be spent.
A series of exercises will ask respondents to make certain decisions and rank them according to level of importance. Councillors will provide a synopsis of the results to council in time to finalize the budget by May.
This is a slight departure from previous years, where public opinion was sought after the fact as a recommendation only. This year, the city hopes public input will shape the budget in its conceptual stages.
The workbook obtains data from individuals, but the business community was not consulted.
I asked several people in the city’s finance and public relations departments why taxpaying business owners were not being consulted on relevant budgetary issues such as city restructuring, economic development initiatives, and zoning practices.
These issues affect the local economy, and need to be addressed on both a community and individual level. The recent ice storm, for example, showed how local businesses can both contribute to and benefit from community support services.
I asked why their input was not being sought. Most city officials I spoke to agreed this was a valid concern, but responses ran the gamut of “I don’t know” to “group input does not provide valuable data.”
None of the officials discouraged business community participation, but nobody could describe the exact nature of their involvement.
There were vague references to the possibility of involving local business improvement associations, and it was acknowledged that groups were welcome.
Both the business community and individuals need to be consulted. Combining them as one doesn’t really do justice to the priorities of either group.
The crux of the matter is to make the best use of public funds. How can this be accomplished when the backbone of the local economy is effectively being ignored?