Budget deliberations for the City of North Battleford will begin next Monday.
At a meeting of council Monday night, Director of Finance Steve Brown announced the dates for the three budget deliberation sessions. They are Monday, Dec. 2, Wednesday, Dec. 11 and Monday, Dec. 16.
The deliberations will follow a similar format to previous years, with the operations and capital budgets both put under the microscope.
The Dec. 2 session will include presentation of the 2020 budget, presentations from community groups seeking financial assistance and police and fire service budgets.
The Dec. 11 session will include general government, leisure services and public works. Feedback from concerned citizens or groups will be scheduled for this time as well.
Also included on this night will be a new feature: a portion of the meeting would be set aside for a public forum, where concerned citizens or groups will be given an opportunity to provide feedback on the budget. Those individuals or groups will need to register in advance to be put on the agenda, so the meeting can maintain an orderly flow.
The final session Dec. 16 would focus on planning and development. This deliberation session will take the place of a planning committee meeting that had been scheduled for that date.
It is then anticipated final council approval of the budget will occur at the first council meeting of 2020 in January.
It is expected the deliberations would run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each night. They would be open to the public.
