Preliminary 2019 City of Winnipeg Budget to be Tabled March 1
Press Release
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
WINNIPEG – The preliminary 2019 Operating and Capital budgets for the City of Winnipeg will be tabled at a special meeting of Executive Policy Committee on Friday March 1, 2019.
“This has been a challenging budget year considering continued demand for high quality services, the need to improve the city’s efficiency and control costs, as well as uncertainty surrounding provincial funding,” said Councillor Scott Gillingham (St. James), Chair of the Standing Policy Committee on Finance. “However, I am confident the preliminary budget coming forward for public review as well as Council’s consideration will be balanced and will reflect Winnipeggers’ priorities.”
After the tabling of the budgets on March 1, 2019, the schedule of public meetings to hear delegations and consider the preliminary 2019 Operating and Capital budgets include:
Thursday, March 7, 2019
- Standing Policy Committee on Water and Waste, Riverbank Management and the Environment (Regular Meeting)
Thursday, March 7, 2019
- Standing Policy Committee on Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works (Special Meeting)
Friday, March 8, 2019
- Winnipeg Police Board (Regular Meeting)
Friday, March 8, 2019
- Standing Policy Committee on Protection, Community Services and Parks (Special Meeting)
Monday, March 11, 2019
- Standing Policy Committee on Innovation (Regular Meeting)
Monday, March 11, 2019
- Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development, Heritage, and Downtown Development (Special Meeting)
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
- Executive Policy Committee to hear public delegations on budgets (Special Meeting)
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
- Executive Policy Committee to table final recommendations (Special Meeting)
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
- Council to consider budget (Special Meeting)
Thursday, March 21, 2019
- Regularly scheduled monthly Council meeting
The Office of Public Engagement undertook a comprehensive public engagement exercise last spring providing residents an opportunity for input into the 2019 budget. The engagement process incorporated a public workshop, fifteen pop up events (one in each civic ward), over 600 interactions with residents, and more than 850 online surveys were completed.
A summary of the public engagement activities undertaken can be accessed here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/Budget/2019BudgetEngagement/pdfs/2019Budget_PE-Summary.pdf
The complete public engagement report prepared by the Office of Public Engagement on the 2019 City of Winnipeg budget can be accessed here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/Budget/2019BudgetEngagement/pdfs/2019Budget_PE-Report.pdf
In addition to the public engagement exercise, the City of Winnipeg conducts an annual Citizen Survey. The complete results of the 2018 Citizen Survey can be reviewed here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/cao/pdfs/2018CitizenSurvey.pdf
In addition to these survey results being used to inform budget decisions, they are also used to prepare the City of Winnipeg’s Community Trends and Performance Report. This annual report is prepared early in the budget process to provide broad demographic as well as performance data to facilitate decision making and to provide context to the city budgeting process. It includes the City of Winnipeg’s Organizational Balanced Scorecard as well as a host of organizational performance measurements. The 2018-19 Community Trends and Performance Report can be accessed here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/cao/pdfs/CommunityTrendsandPerformanceReportVolume1_2019.pdf
The City of Winnipeg also subscribes to quarterly public opinion surveys. The results of these surveys can be reviewed here: https://www.winnipeg.ca/finance/files/QuarterlyPublicOpinionSurvey.pdf
Tabling of the preliminary 2019 budget on March 1 marks the start of an open and transparent budget review process. Members of the public are encouraged to continue participating in the budget process. To register as a delegation at any of the above committee meetings, resident can contact 311.
IBF4
