town of milton

Budget Input Session July 11th 7pm Milton Sports Centre

Mike Cluett

As I have mentioned many times in this blog, I feel its important that the community get involved in our budget process.  I cant begin to count the number of times during the last municipal election I heard from residents that they dont know whats going on and want to have a say.

We as a new council wanted to make sure this changed.  The changes started recently with our online survey, which is still active, to get a feeling of what Miltonians want from their local government.

The full budget call report with the summary of comments can be found here.

During the last campaign, I promised to be as open and accountable as possible when it comes to feedback from taxpayers on our budget and along with other councillors in the “Hawthorne Village” area, we have scheduled an informal “Budget Input Session” to hear what YOU have to say.

The date has been finalized and the room has been booked.  Monday July 11th at 7pm at the Milton Sports Centre (Room 4) we will sit down and listen to your opinions on what services you would like to see.  The topics will range from transit, community services, parks, taxes, and the hospital levy that was implemented by council in the 2011 budget.

The online survey gave an overview of what Miltonians were thinking.  A majority of those surveyed felt that council should keep potential tax increases to 1-2%, maintain many services at their current levels and was pretty much split on the hospital levy.  Given the fact the response was down the middle regarding the levy, many of the comments showed that more public input was needed before passing such a measure.

Also, if you have not been able to submit your thoughts through the survey, it is still open at the Milton site for you to complete.  The deadline was for submissions to be included in the Budget Call report, but they will keep the survey online until August 18th.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FNVPFC8

If you have any comments or questions before hand, please email me mike@mikecluett.ca

We look forward to seeing you on the 11th

Admin. & Planning Committee Meeting June 20 2011

Mike Cluett

This coming Monday June 20th is the Administration & Planning Standing Committee meeting at Town Hall starting at 7pm.  

This Committee consists of five Councillors and the Mayor. Committee members review all reports, formulate policy and make recommendations to Council on matters over which Council has authority under the Municipal Act, the Planning Act and other legislation. Recommendations are made in the areas of corporate administration, personnel, legal issues, planning and finance.

The Administration and Planning Committee reviews the operating and capital budgets as well as various financial matters affecting the Town of Milton.

The agenda for the meeting can be found here.

Some of the highlites include:

As always you can watch online on Monday night at 7pm.  If you have any questions or comments for any of these reports, please email me mike@mikecluett.ca

 

Hawthorne Village 2012 Budget Input Session

Mike Cluett

After consulting with Rick Di Lorenzo (Ward 7 Local Councillor) and Zeeshan Hamid (Ward 8 Local Councillor), and Sharon Barkley (Ward 1 Local Councillor) we’ve come up with a date where we want to hear from you.  Of course all other councillors in town are invited to join us but we wanted to have a focus on issues in our area that needs to be heard.

Thursday night June 30th at 7pm (location to be determined) If we get a lot of interest we might move it to the Sports Centre or somewhere larger but it could also be Symposium or Hawthorne Cafe.

The budget call process has started and thank you to everyone who filled out the survey online but thats not the only way to give us your input.

Sharon, Zeeshan, Rick and I want to hear from you in a “tell us what you think” format. We dont want to go on about what OUR priorities are just yet.  That will come in time for sure.  We want to hear what yours are.

Of course we can provide direction on the topics, like transit, community services, parks, taxation, budget increases, etc but the floor is yours.  Once we complile the opinions from everyone, we can send out a summary and these comments will be sent to staff as part of this process.

As always you can tell us what you think via email if you cant make it and each one of us encourages that.

So RSVP here or email one of us to let us know you can make it.

Its your time to speak and comments made there at the meeting and here on the Villager and in emails to us will be used in this budget call process. We can all agree this hasnt happened much in the past…lets change that.

Community Services Committee Meeting June 13 2011

Mike Cluett

The next meeting of the Community Services Standing Committee is this coming Monday June 13, 2011 at Milton Town Hall beginning at 7pm.

This Committee consists of five Councillors and the Mayor. Committee members review all reports, formulate policy and make recommendations to Council on matters over which Council has authority under the Municipal Act. These matters are related to Community Services, Fire, Library, Transit and other operational programs. If you wish to be a delegation at the Community Services Committee, you must register in writing with the Clerk’s Office by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, the day of the meeting.

The following Council Members sit on the Community Services Committee:

  • Gordon Krantz, Mayor
  • Councillor Tony Lambert, Wards 1, 6, 7 & 8
  • Councillor Greg Nelson, Ward 2
  • Councillor Rick Malboeuf, Ward 4
  • Councillor Arnold Huffman, Ward 5
  • Councillor R. Di Lorenzo, Wards 7

Here is a copy of the agenda for you to review.  Some of the items to be discussed include:

If you cant make it to the meeting, as always you can watch online.  Just click on my links to the right and enjoy!

Public Input for 2012 Milton Town Budget

Mike Cluett

During the last municipal election campaign, one of the most common themes I heard from voters was that they want to be kept informed and have more of a say in budget matters.  That message was heard loud and clear by myself and other councillors and we are happy to announce that there is an opportunity for you to have your say.

The Town of Milton has set up a survey that you can log into here, to have your say and answer questions about the upcoming 2012 Milton budget process.  This is an opportunity for you to tell US what YOU think the town’s priorities should be for the upcoming year and years beyond.

Although this survey is set to finish on June 8th, the town will continue to take input from residents, as well as through your local councillor (yours truly) to come up with priorities you find important.

Public input sought on 2012 municipal budget

 

Christina Commisso, CANADIAN CHAMPION

This year has yet to reach the halfway point and the Town is already looking ahead to Milton’s 2012 budget.

The public is encouraged to provide their input on the next year’s budget in an online survey (at www.milton.ca) until June 8.

The survey, open to residents and business owners, asks participants if they’d like see increased, decreased or the same level of service in respects to: fire service, winter snow control, transit, road maintenance, municipal parking lots, traffic signals and streetlighting, parks and open space, recreational programs and facility conditions.

The survey asks if there are new services or programs the Town should offer, existing services/programs that should be eliminated and if participants would support a tax increase to increase or add services.

Participants can indicated what per cent tax increase — between zero and five per cent — they’d support and whether or not they’re in favour of the dedicated tax levy for the hospital expansion implemented in this year’s budget.

The survey is one of the first steps in preparing Milton’s 2012 budget. During Monday’s council meeting, the Town’s senior manager of finance Sheryl Hill touched upon forthcoming budget pressures and new capital infrastructure to carried out next year.

The ongoing sports centre expansion and community park development, the completion of the Centre for the Arts, new staff positions, annualizing the 2011 transit enhancement for 2012 and the construction of No. 3 fire station and new headquarters are pressures Hill incited during her presentation to council.

The 2012 capital forecast includes 119 projects worth $72.5 million that are split fairly evenly between growth and non-growth projects. Hill said about 70 per cent of the expenses are pegged for road work.

At the meeting resident Kim Macdonald asked council to include the renewal of community parks in the older areas of town, including downtown, Timberlea and Dorset Park, in next year’s budget.

She said a lack of shade isn’t uncommon in some of the older parks and she often runs into parents from old Milton who drive out of their way to the new parks.

Councillor Rick Malboeuf said he’s heard similar concerns from Ward 4 residents and expects to see some movement in bringing the older parks up to date in the 2012 budget.

A budget call report will be presented to council this month. 

The Mouth of Milton Tigerfest 2011 THIS SATURDAY

Mike Cluett

Going old school wrestling…here’s my promo for Tigerfest 2011 this coming Saturday at Miltons Downtown Street Festival!