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Building the 2019 Budget
On an annual basis, North Perth prepares operating and capital budgets to authorize its expenditures for the year. The 2019 Operating and Capital (Project) Budgets will provide a guide for the operation of the overall organization and a financial plan for the Municipality.
Understanding budget basics
Your first question may be "What are operating and capital expenses?"
Operating expenses are expenses required for the day-to-day needs of the Municipality. Operating expenses help us to maintain the current levels of services in the community and cover items like snow plowing, parks and recreation maintenance, fire and police services and administrative costs.
Capital expenses cover one-time projects (note: this is why we sometimes refer to it as the "Project Budget") which serve as an investment in our future and benefit our overall community. Examples include costs for a new building roof, road repairs and replacement of vehicles and equipment.
To learn more budget basics and fuel your participation in the budget process, we encourage you to review our Understanding Budget Basics document.
Budget Process
Each year, a Budget Committee is established as a Committee of Council. The Budget Committee consists of all members of Council and holds Special Budget Meetings. The purpose of the Budget Committee is to lead and direct the budgeting process.
The budget process is established through the Budget Policy. The process includes reviewing and evaluating budget submissions from North Perth Boards, Committees and Departments, seeking public feedback on the draft budget at a Budget Open House and finalizing a Budget Document for recommendation and presentation to Council for approval.
We have developed a Budget Process Flowchart to illustrate North Perth's annual budget process.
The Special Budget Committee Meetings for the 2019 budget are listed in the table below. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe.
| Date | Time | Focus |
| Wednesday, December 12, 2018 | 7:00 pm, North Perth Council Chambers | A visioning meeting of the 2019 Budget Committee to provide members of Council with an opportunity to give senior staff suggestions and direction for the budgeting process. Results of the 2019 Pre-Budget Survey presented. |
| Wednesday, February 6, 2019 | 7:00 pm, North Perth Council Chambers | Provide Budget Committee with a comprehensive 2019 Corporate Operating Budget with individual supporting documentation by Department. Direction from Committee on changes and amendments to be made to the 2019 Operation Budgets as presented. |
| Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | 7:00 pm, North Perth Council Chambers | Provide Budget Committee with Departmental Project Forecasts and 2019/20 Project Budget for consideration. Direction from Committee on changes and amendments to be made to Project Budgets as presented. |
| Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | 7:00 pm, North Perth Council Chambers | Provide Budget Committee with Departmental Project Forecasts and 2019/20 Project Budget for consideration. Direction from Committee on changes and amendments to be made to Project Budgets as presented. |
| Wednesday, March 27, 2019 | 7:00 pm, North Perth Council Chambers | Consideration of amendments to initial presentations and the resulting impacts. Surplus, Segregated Surplus and Reserve Funds impact analysis and current debt structure will also be available for review. Finalization of Operating and Project Budgets in principal for recommendation and presentation to Council. |
| Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | 5:00-8:00 pm, Location TBD | 2019 Budget Open House to provide the proposed 2019 Budget information to the public in consultation with Council and staff. |
The agendas and minutes for these meetings will be posted to the Council and Committee Calendar a few days prior to the meeting.
Public Input
We are using our online engagement platform Your Say North Perth as a tool to conduct public consultation on the 2019 budget.
Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback through our Pre-Budget Survey. We received 43 completed surveys (online and paper copies) between November 1, 2018 and December 5, 2018.
The survey results were presented to North Perth Council on December 12, 2018 at the 2019 Budget Visioning Council Meeting. You can find a summary of the survey results by viewing the Pre-Budget Survey Results Council Report. Although the feedback received through the survey cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of the North Perth community as a whole, it does provide valuable information for Council to consider during the 2019 budget process.
Visit the 2019 Budget project page on Your Say North Perth to learn more. Stay tuned for more budget public input opportunities!
Reports and previous budgets
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Budget documents |
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Previous years' budgets |