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e MOPINION = BUDGETING SHOULD = PERHAPS BE MORE 3 OF A YEAR-ROUND EFFORT, WRITES $ MIKE FARWELL se MIKE FARWELL Column It might be time to start budgeting better. n the scope of the challennes faced by munic- ipalities and the size of the budgets themselves ($1.9 billion at the region, for ex- ample), residents deserve a better opportunity to un- derstand what's at stake. Andcouncillors deserve more time to make even better-informed decisions. When I jokingly juipped recently “that it took Waterloo councilall of 38 seconds to record the vote that unanimously passed its $93-million bud- get and 5.45 per cent tax in- crease, I was reminded of the several meetings that had occurred before the fi- nal budget meeting. And that final meeting lasted al- most five hours on its own. r that big significant property tax increases are nothing to joke about. Which brings me back to the idea that maybe it's time we took a othe ap- proach eo budget Our eoieal S udget was decided this year at the marathon 12-hour meetin i ic] police budget -- the largest line item in the entire re- gional budget -- and the fi- "It might be time to start budgeting better,’ writes Mike Farwell. nal tax increase of 8.5 per cent were decided in the fi- nal moments of what had been a very long day of de- liberations. By the end of it all, the most important budget ele- Nominations Are Open! Western Union u know an inspiring immigrant ing national award by March 10th, 2023 NOMINATE TODAY AT www.canadianimmigrant.ca/top25 waterloochronicle.ca CANADIAN IMMIGRANT au aids Scan to find out more Presenting Sponsor: ‘WY Wester Union Program Partners: ‘windmill cogyp\ MEET mage Svhesg Com Citytv Brought to you by: Canadian Immigrant Magazine ments were debated and decided at a time when nei- ther councillors nor the public were at their best. ‘eat’ newness of this par- ular regional council probably played a signifi- Metro Creative photo cant role in this. Not only are there nine new faces around the re- gional council horseshoe this year but the most re- cent municipal election happened only four MAYBE IT'S TIME TO TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO BUDGETING months ago. That doesn't provide a lot of runway to catch up on a $1.9-billion budget, to say nothing of identifying your own prior- ties. It's been suggested that we 2 lobby tt bad Rens to elections away y from f ther most critical part of the municipal bud- get cycle in order that new councillors be given the benefit of extra time. It's not a bad idea. Ialsocan't help but won- der if we shouldn't make budgeting more of a year- round effort as opposed to something akin to cram- ming for an exam, or filing our taxes on the day of the deadline. Columnist Mike Far- well is a broadcaster, MC and advocate. Follow him on Twitter at @far- well_WR, or connect with him via Mike.Far- well@rci.rogers.com