Let your voice be heard – Budget Open House happening early next month

By Serena Lapointe

Each year, ahead of the spring finalization of the Town’s budget, Town Council members and
administrative department heads take part in a public open house. Residents are invited to
attend, ask questions, learn about how tax dollars are spent, receive updates on upcoming
projects, and bring forward comments or concerns related to municipal matters.
The event is free-flow, with displays allowing residents to read the boards and learn about plans
for the upcoming budget and potential plans for future budgets. Boards also detail service levels
and planned enhancements, along with accompanying costs.
One of the many boards on display each year takes one dollar of taxation and breaks it down
into small chunks, showing how each cent is used, giving taxpayers a greater understanding of
how their hard-earned money helps provide community services, upkeep infrastructure, and
plan for the future.
Typically held on a weeknight from 4-7 pm at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre, attendance has
generally been quite low. Given the opportunity it provides for engagement, allowing not only
room for learning but also for conversation and questions, increasing the foot traffic would be a
win-win for the municipality and residents.
Last month, Whitecourt Town Council discussed the event. Judy Barney, Director of Corporate
Services, said they would be using the same format as last year, but thanks to a prior request by
Town Council, parents of young children could take advantage of a typically paid service for no
charge. “To encourage participants, we have free Child Mind services that will help people who
may need that while they take in all of the information that we will have available.”
She added that there would also be other programs underway at the AJMC at the same time as
the Budget Open House, giving older youth something to do while their parents peruse the
boards and chat with staff and council. Councillor Braden Lanctot was happy to see the
inclusion of Child Mind. “I truly think the Child Mind is an underutilized resource that we have.
So, even if this is a way to advertise Child Mind, then I think that’s a really good thing.” He
added that it’s also great that other programs will be available for youths of different ages.

He said the biggest thing will be making sure that people are aware that the service is being
offered that night. “I want to make sure that we advertise it and let it be known that it’s available.
That’s a huge piece of it. We should make sure we are being very liberal about us having an
open house and then saying that it’ll have free childcare,” said Lanctot.
The group also decided to start it at 3 pm instead. “Maybe we will get some people out that
wouldn’t have come out otherwise.” When asked about the typical attendance over the years,
Barney said they once got over 40 visitors, but that it generally hovers closer to twenty.
Councillors Bill McAree and Tara Baker felt that bigger changes might be needed going forward,
especially if attendance this year remains low. “I see a big change, being the big change. If it’s

for them (residents) to engage and it’s for us to get more than a small group, then we need to do
something different,” said Baker.
Mayor Ray Hilts agreed with his colleagues. “When I was on council before, we had the same
conversations about the effectiveness of this strategy. In the absence of a replacement strategy,
though, we do it, but I agree, it has been generally ineffective.” He added that over the next
year, they can discuss creative ways to change things up.  
Council discussed potentially having small coffee events, maybe at the library, giving residents
more flexibility with time and location to get their comments in. For this year, though, Mayor Hilts
said he liked the idea of holding the event a bit earlier. “I just want to make sure that we do our
due diligence as a council in sharing information about what it is we are doing this year, and
then we can move on from there.”   
This year’s Budget Open House will take place on Thursday, March 5 from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm
in the fieldhouse at the Allan & Jean Millar Center. Parents with young children can use the
Child Mind free of charge to attend the event.