The City of Kelowna is changing the way it puts together its annual budget.

Staff presented the issue in a workshop to council at its morning meeting on Nov. 20.

sa国际传媒淭his was a significant change to what the organization had been used to,sa国际传媒� Joe Sass, city CFO. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 thrilled by the combined efforts and willingness to explore new processes and new ideas.sa国际传媒�

Traditionally staff and council have used an organizational approach to the annual budget.

The city is now introducing a service-based budget created around services rather than departments and divisions.

sa国际传媒淢embers of the public are increasingly holding municipalities accountable for the cost of services provided,sa国际传媒� Sass added.

Services, and associated service levels, are determined through councilsa国际传媒檚 priorities, and the citysa国际传媒檚 strategic plan.

Coun. Ron Cannan asked if there would be opportunities for more public input on the budget.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e always thinking and open-minded of new ways to connect with the community and perhaps use technology to do that,sa国际传媒� Sass replied. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 always on our mind and will continue to evolve as we move forward.sa国际传媒�

Cannan also asked about incentivizing city departments to work within budgets rather than continuing to automatically assume and add inflation.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 confident in saying that we have a culture, frankly, led by the city manager that wesa国际传媒檙e always looking for efficiencies and how we look inwardly and look at technology before we just add new things to budget,sa国际传媒� Sass said.

He added that the benefits of a service budget include enhanced accountability and transparency, better communication of where tax dollars are being spent, and greater clarity of services offered to the community.

Council will begin budget deliberations Dec. 7.

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