COQUITLAM, B.C., Sept. 1, 2021 – The City will be preparing its 2022 budget this fall and is seeking public input through our online budget consultation tool.
Until Sept. 30, members of the public can participate in the budget planning process through the interactive Citizen Budget tool at www.coquitlam.ca/budget. The insight gained from public input will be provided to Council to support decision-making as part of their budget deliberation process.
Using the Citizen Budget Tool
The tool allows users to design a mock City budget based on their priorities and provides some insight into service level impacts based on spending on various City services. Start with a mock property tax bill and then add or cut back City services – such as garbage collection, recreation, roads or fire services – to see the impact on the bottom line and achieve a balanced budget.
Community Priorities Informing the Budget Process
The Citizen Budget tool has become a valuable public engagement tool for Coquitlam, helping to ensure each budget reflects the community’s current wants and needs.
Feedback allows the City to see what services citizens value the most, based on what they prioritized in their mock budgets. It’s also an educational process for users, who get a taste of the challenging decisions that must be made for each year’s balanced budget.
Insights from the mock budgets will be considered by staff and Council as they develop the 2022 budget, to be deliberated by Council later in the fall.
For more information on Coquitlam’s budget process and a link to the Citizen Budget tool, visit www.coquitlam.ca/budget.
Media contact:
Gorana Cabral
Manager Financial Planning
City of Coquitlam
604-927-3038
gcabral@coquitlam.ca