Selling the Budget to Council and the Public
By Tim Duhamel, President, Bloom Centre for Municipal Education
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of municipal government. Over my 25 years of working in this industry, I’ve been privileged to be part of some amazing projects and services that have contributed so much to communities. Municipalities are in the business of delivering one product—quality of life! Municipalities accomplish this through the delivery of hundreds of services each day that contribute incredible value to people’s lives.
A DAY IN THE LIFE . . . OF A MUNICIPALITY
People go to sleep at night and are protected by fire and police services. They wake up to clean water for showers and drinking, walk on a well-maintained sidewalk to get to their car, drive on roads cleared of snow, and stop at traffic lights and crosswalks that keep people safe. After a day of work at a business spawned by municipal economic attraction initiatives, they pick their kids up from school and take them to the municipal recreation facility to enjoy swimming, hockey, soccer, or other programs that contribute to their children’s welfare and parent’s memories.
The one thing I will remember in my old age, is the fantastic experience of sitting in cold rinks across Alberta watching my kid play hockey. The above only highlights a few of the valuable services used daily that contribute to our quality of life.
TAXES – YOUR COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
Private businesses are fantastic at convincing us that their products add great value to our lives, though the reality is the value is questionable. Fancy cars, expensive watches, designer clothes, electronics, dinners out . . . the list goes on and on. People never hesitate to spend hundreds of dollars monthly on phones, dinners out, and TV streaming packages, but question the value of municipal service when they see their annual tax bill. Why? In part, municipalities are not great at communicating the value of everyday services received for tax dollars.
THE MUNICIPAL EQUATION
A day does not go by without municipal services keeping people safe, contributing to their health, improving the economy, supporting community beautification, facilitating positive growth, protecting community infrastructure and financial assets—the list goes on. There are hundreds of examples of value delivered for what we call property taxes.
A better description for taxes? “A contribution to your community.” What is more important than fostering the community that we live in? Where we raise our children, enjoy our neighbours, and work live and play. Taxes = financial resources that transform into valued services and capital assets, which serve quality of life. To support the budget sell, efforts must be made to properly craft positive messaging for councils and the public in terms that they can understand and appreciate.
THE VALUE COMPARISON – MUNICIPALITIES WIN EVERY TIME
What is part of the budget sell challenge? We need to develop, foster, and cherish our relationship with the public. This means making an effort to improve the quality of our council and public communication. We should consider the efforts of private enterprise who are fantastic at selling the value for valueless products. We need to illuminate to the public the immense value they receive for their tax dollars. For example, show your councils and citizens the comparative value of what they receive for their tax dollars monthly to other products. This is a necessary exercise to support “the sell”.
KEY ITEMS TO SELL
As we consider the innovative concept of selling the budget to the public, there are eight key items to success that must be considered:
- Engage the public.
- Understand and document your services and their value.
- Understand the municipal environment challenges.
- Receive direction from council related to service levels and tax increases.
- Do your homework – financial analytics.
- Enable council vision through the budget process.
- Tell the story! Communicate the budget’s what, why, and how to the public.
- Implement, deliver, and celebrate your success!