Committee of the Whole presented with 2025 budget timelines
The Town of Strathmore Committee of the Whole was presented with a summary of 2025 capital and operating budget timelines during the meeting, May 8.
Riley Brolly, who presented before the committee, clarified it was simply for informational purposes, without any decisions required to be made at the time of the meeting.
He explained to the committee, at the beginning of the upcoming budget cycle, town staff will be undertaking training in order to ensure alignment with ongoing asset management planning.
“In terms of our overall timeline, it is the same time frame or timeline as last year, just about, with a few things to note,” said Brolly.
He added council will be involved in an initial mandate discussion, June 12, and any council requests from there will have to be made prior to or by Aug. 16.
Requests for community group funding were also noted to have a due date of Oct. 23.
Departmental budget summaries will be distributed to council by Nov. 1 for their review.
“Mid-November is when we get to the brass tacks of it all and you will be involved in the public engagement piece that we call ‘Coffee with Council,’ (and) that will be on Nov. 12,” said Brolly. “Mid-November is when those largest discussions with council and administration occur – the deliberation, any information requests you may have as well.”
One item Brolly noted to have been changed from last year where council question and answer with individual departments was previously denoted as its own item of business will now be part of the initial budget deliberations done on Nov. 19.
This will ultimately culminate into the potential first reading of the 2025 budget draft at the Dec. 4 regular meeting of council.
Coun. Denise Peterson asked regarding if there would be any potential merit in utilizing artificial intelligence tools while moving forward with future budget numbers and information.
“I am seeing some proprietorial stuff coming forward that is stunningly remarkable in that field. I see small amounts of money being dedicated to that in our budget and I just think there is capacity for us,” she said.
Brolly explained that is something that may be explored by town administration and curiosity does exist about possible implementations.
The report and associated information which was presented before the Committee of the Whole is made publicly available via the town’s agenda for the May 8 meeting.
John Watson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times
