Cobourg Invites Resident Input on 2023 Budget

By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland

Following a busy week of budget meetings, the Town of Cobourg advises residents that the draft 2023 Operating and Capital Budgets can now be viewed at www.cobourg.ca

The week included Monday presentations from members of the public for the Municipal Community Grant Program – during which council also received an overview of the Phase One 2023 Budget Community Engagement research with insights from members of the community on the programs and services that they value most, the level of satisfaction with service delivery and issues they feels are most important at this time.

Staff presented 2023 Draft Budget Overview Presentations Wednesday and Thursday to summarize budget recommendations, including operating- and capital-budget highlights, key budget drivers, operating- and capital-budget increases (and the reason behind them) and special projects for the coming year. Those who were unable to attend these meetings can find them on the Town of Cobourg eScribe website, as well as a copy of the Draft Overview Presentations at www.cobourg.ca

The draft 2023 Operating and Capital budgets are now available for community review. Council will meet again Feb. 7 to review the draft budget in its entirety, with final budget approval scheduled for Feb. 27.

This puts the budget process at Phase 2, Community Engagement and Feedback, with a survey asking residents to provide feedback on budget, and also on the budget process (including communication and education as well as the direction of the draft capital and operating budgets). Data collected through this community-engagement exercise will be presented to council at its Feb. 21 committee-of-the-whole meeting.

In addition to the survey, residents are welcome to submit a delegation at any of the upcoming council meetings – just visit www.cobourg.ca/escribe, selecting the meeting you would like to attend, and clicking on the delegation-request form.

You can follow updates on Engage Cobourg, and visit the town’s 2023 Budget webpage to learn more about the town’s annual budget process.

Residents of the Town of Cobourg are encouraged to create a profile on-line and participate in current public-engagement projects at Engage Cobourg – an on-line public-engagement platform designed to gather resident feedback and comments. To register, visit engagecobourg.ca and click on the Register Today! button.

For more information, or help with registering, e-mail communications@cobourg.ca