Artisti Public budget consultations to begin this month

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star

Ottawa residents are being invited to provide their input into the draft 2023 budget, which is being tabled this week.

A series of budget consultations meetings will be held over the next three weeks beginning in Ward 21 Rideau-Jock on Feb. 6.

Residents living in Wards 1, 2, 11 and 19 –which encompasses Beacon Hill, Blackburn Hamlet, Orléans and Cumberland – will get their chance to have their voices heard during a drop-in meeting at Place d’Orléans on Saturday, Feb. 11 between 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Residents are being asked to list their budget priorities and suggest places where they believe savings can be found.

The draft operating and capital budgets were put together with a proposed tax increase of

2.5 per cent as established by city council at the outset of the process.

Ottawa residents will find out what that equates to in terms of its impact on city services once the proposed budget is tabled.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe made a number of commitments during his election campaign in the fall which may be addressed in the proposed draft budget, namely a call to eliminate 200 full-time positions, most of which are already vacant.

Sutcliffe also campaigned on a one-year freeze in OC Transpo fares and a 10 per cent cut to recreation fees for children and youth.

The former is still in play, while the latter has already been kiboshed by staff as too expensive. Instead, they offered to bring forward options to offer free or low-cost activities for kids, such as public swimming or skating sessions, or increasing

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