While budgets in many municipalities at least on the surface appear cut-and-dried, the process here is now well into its third month.
The draft budget was posted online in late November and council has referred to it in most of its meetings since then.
The Feb. 5 meeting was no exception. In reviewing minutes of a previous meeting discussion, council again began discussion of the process for the 2013 budget.
Councillor John Brennan said there were a number of items identified and received as information to be included within budget deliberations.
Councillor Barb Tocher asked if the clarification referred to the one item not forwarded for deliberation.
Mayor Lou Maieron believed the meeting intent was to give staff direction as to what to include in the budget.
“When we get to the budget meeting (with the exception of a few time-related items), that everything could be brought up – to be added, changed or excluded. We were not doing the budget piecemeal.”
Maieron stated, “budgets are usually done in a comprehensive fashion, not one piece at a time.”
Tocher said her understanding was that a policy discussion was required on various items. She added resolutions were presented.
“A number of them were forwarded to the budget process and one was not … the resolutions bear that out.”
Maieron suggested maybe part of the problem is that currently council is sitting as council at each meeting, rather than as a committee of the whole, where items can be discussed and later ratified at council.
He asked if everything regarding the budget was going to be decided when a decision is made.
“Or is it decided at the March (budget) meeting?” he asked. He said the budget could be ratified then or brought back to council again.
He asked how things could move forward without knowing the year-end finals from 2012.
Brennan said his understanding was that unless council objected to anything specific, everything was moving forward.
“That was the way the recommendations read,” said Brennan.
He added each of the resolutions stated a particular item would be considered as part of the 2013 budget deliberations.
Maieron agreed, but believed when the budget came back in its entirety, there would still be the opportunity to add, delete or modify items within the budget.
Tocher, on the other hand, said the resolutions did provide direction as to what to include and not to include.
Maieron again agreed, but maintained everything remained up for discussion.
Tocher said her understanding is if an item was to be moved forward to the budget, it didn’t mean that it might not be cut later on.
“There is no point in having a policy discussion if you’re just going to discuss the same things all over again,” she said. “You’ve wasted a whole meeting.”
CAO Frank Miele said that in reference to the policies, “the policy reports were written for the basis of discussion only.” He added the intent was for members of council to be fully aware of the issues.
He said the resolutions were standardized to say that council would consider the recommendations as part of the deliberations.
“We haven’t completed budget deliberations, because there is still a meeting on Feb. 20,” said Miele.
“Technically, you may have approved a specific report, but are still within budget deliberations.”
Tocher maintained clear direction was given.
Maieron said his experience at the county level of government was that despite discussions at the committee level, on the day the budget is presented at council any member can stand up and try to change, alter or amend items.
Maieron said, “Until you have the whole budget before you, you are not looking at the whole piece of work.”
Brennan said he had no objections to proposals brought forward at future budget meetings.
“I’m expecting there will be a budget proposal on Feb. 20 and we will say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whatever is in the proposal,” said Brennan.
Maieron maintained council should not approve the budget until it was available in its entirety.
Tocher said “the draft budget has been available since November.” She said currently that budget involves a 17% increase.
No decision came from the discussion.
