Smithers has rolled out a new way for residents to get involved in the municipal budget.
Mayor Taylor Bachrach says the online citizen budget simulator will let people play with numbers and decide how the money gets spent.
“Our hope is that it will help people understand the budget a little bit better; the connection between property tax and service level. And provide a way for them to give us feedback,” says Bachrach.
Council will dig into the budget in December through to the spring. Bachrach says each year there’s not a lot of flexibility in the budget leading to what he says are hard decisions each year.
Here’s a link to the simulator.