Give your input on City of Vancouver 2019 Budget spending

As the 2019 Budget approaches, the municipal government is asking Vancouverites to provide input on priorities for spending. Give feedback via a Talk Vancouver online survey and/or by attending one of the in-person sessions held throughout the community. Information gathered will be used in the development of the draft budget and presented to city council in mid-December.

Data gathered from an independently commissioned telephone survey (conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs) held in the summer is also being considered. A total of 600 Residents and 200 business owners across a variety of neighbourhoods and income levels gave their thoughts on the importance of, and the city’s performance in handling, specific services. The majority of respondents are satisfied overall — the official results have been posted on the government website.

Some of the highlights are as follows:

• 83 per cent of residents and 80 per cent of businesses were either “very” or “somewhat” satisfied
• The highest ranked individual services for both groups were: library, fire and medical response, police services, parks and green spaces, and online services/payment
• Services that residents said needed most improvement include affordable housing, homelessness services and social policies and projects; businesses on the other hand indicated development and building permitting, parking, long-range planning and transportation infrastructure
• 91 per cent of residents and 88 per cent of businesses feel quality of life in Vancouver is good or very good
• 79 percent of residents and 72 per cent of businesses believe they receive good value for their tax dollars

Members of the public interested in engaging with the city can access the Talk Vancouver survey here. To find out the times and locations of pop-up community sessions, keep an eye on the events calendar and social media channels like Facebook or Twitter. The draft budget is expected to be published later this month.