Do you have a budget related question you’d like to ask but aren’t a huge fan of
public meetings? Or maybe you just have too much on the go with no time to spare?
Then why not join Mayor Rob Burton and Budget Committee Chair Councillor Tom Adams for an interactive Twitter Budget Q and A session on January 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. Simply tweet your questions to @townofoakville. All questions and answers (especially those longer than 140 characters) will also be posted online at www.oakville.ca.
“In a spirit of innovation, we are taking the concept of a telephone town hall meeting to Twitter,” said Mayor Burton. “We’ll see if the fast, fluid nature of social media opens up a chance for new participation from people too busy for the traditional, more formal styles of participation in meetings.”
Town staff presented Oakville’s proposed 2012 operating and capital budgets to the Budget Committee on January 16, achieving Council’s direction to keep the total property tax increase in line with inflation. Town staff recommended a 6.7 per cent increase to the town’s portion of the tax bill for an overall property tax increase of 3 per cent.
The proposed tax increase protects existing program and service levels and would see residential property taxes increase by $29 per $100,000 of assessment. The increase includes previous financial commitments for road pavement improvements, parks maintenance and operating the new Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre.
“Using the power of Twitter allows us to engage a broader demographic of Oakville taxpayers,” said Councillor Adams. “This is new territory for the town and we’re excited to see what happens. We hope our constituents take advantage of this opportunity to chat with us.”
If Twitter’s not currently bookmarked on your favourites list, then simply email us
at budget2012@oakville.ca with your questions and we’ll post the answers online. All resident input will be shared with the Budget Committee as part of their budget deliberations.
For those who prefer face-to-face meetings, check out our drop-in open houses for a chance to see where the proposed 3 per cent total tax bill increase will be spent. Budget Chair Councillor Tom Adams and staff will be on site to answer any questions.
Thursday, January 26 – 7 to 8 p.m.
Committee Room 1, Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road
Or have your say at the 2012 Budget Committee meetings located in Council Chamber at
Town Hall on:
Thursday, February 2 – 7 to 10 p.m.
Delegations
Tuesday, February 7 – 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Delegations
Thursday, February 9 – 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Deliberations
Tuesday, February 14 – 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
(as required)
Deliberations
Monday, March 5 – 7 p.m.
Council Approval
Residents who wish to appear before the Budget Committee as a delegate should register at townclerk@oakville.ca or call 905-815-6015. For those who cannot attend the Budget Committee meetings in person, they will be video-streamed live at www.towntv.ca.
For more information about the 2012 Budget visit www.oakville.ca.
Tags: town budget
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