VINCENT council went a little more democratic than usual in putting this year’s budget together, asking for ratepayers to suggest where the money should go.
Technically every budget is subject to community consultation, but it’s usually done after months of internal budget workshop have pretty much set the spending in stone, and only attracts comment from a hardcore few who keep a close eye on council.
Vincent’s new approach has increased participation 15-fold.
This time round the council opened submissions in early May and got 50 people weighing in on more than 30 proposals (some proposals got support from several people), compared to a meagre three submissions last year.
Underground power
Some suggestions were toilet upgrades in parks, pedestrian crossings, reviewing the city’s multicultural services plan and more funding for local service providers.
Underground power was a biggie: Lots of people have wanted it for years but the state government has progressively shifted the costs onto councils and ratepayers, making it difficult to achieve.
CEO Len Kosova says because it’s such a whopper of an undertaking, Vincent would have to give that suggestion a further review and consultation before doing anything, which makes it unlikely to make this year’s round of funds.
Mayor John Carey says in previous years the budget was “a fait accompli”.
“The old process was ‘we’ve just finished the final draft budget, it’s out for comment, but your ideas are probably too late because we’ve done our rate setting, we’ve worked out our expenditure’.
“I was just really pleased that we got so many [submissions]. All the feedback from the community has been really positive. The point is it got a lot more people interested, and it involved a lot more people.”
Vincent will set its rates for this year’s budget in the next couple of weeks.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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