Residents chiming in on City of Prince George’s 2025 budget indicated a preference for a scenario that would see most funding levels maintained at the same amount as in 2024.
Ahead of budget deliberations early next year, the city surveyed residents for their thoughts in September and October.
A total of 930 people responded to a budget-specific survey while 941 responses were made to surveys asking how satisfied residents are with specific city services.
The results of those surveys are scheduled for discussion at a Dec. 4 meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit. A copy of the findings is attached to the agenda for the meeting.
One online tool allowed residents to play around with different budget scenarios and see how spending increases or decreases for different service categories would affect the overall budget.
The city presented what it called a “best budget scenario” that represented an adjusted tax total of $2,697 per household and a decrease of 0.81 per cent in tax allocations compared to 2024.
A report from city staff says respondents had an extremely favourable reception of this scenario.
The majority of respondents chose scenarios that would see funding maintained at 2024 levels for these service areas: community planning and economic development (68 per cent approval), stormwater management (80 per cent), roads and sidewalks (80 per cent), public transit services (69 per cent), parks, trails and beautification (70 per cent), community support services (69 per cent), police services (69 per cent), fire protection services (82 per cent), bylaw enforcement services (69 per cent) and snow and ice control (78 per cent).
The only category where most respondents advocated for an increase in spending was infrastructure management. 77 per cent of residents expressed interest in a five per cent spending boost.
There was only one category where most respondents were in favour of a spending decrease, corporate services. For that category, 69 per cent of residents wanted a five per cent spending cut.
According to a report from city administration, this would result in a so-called “best budget scenario” with an adjusted tax total of $2,697 per household and a decrease of 0.81 per cent in tax allocations compared to 2024.
Residents were also asked what city service area they considered the most important. Here are the results of that question, ranked from most to least support.
- Snow and ice control (9.7 per cent),
- Fire protection services (9.6 per cent),
- Police services (9.5 per cent),
- Roads and sidewalks (8.9 per cent),
- Infrastructure management (8.3 per cent),
- Parks, trails and beautification (8.1 per cent),
- Stormwater management (7.6 per cent),
- Recreation and community services (7.5 per cent),
- Bylaw enforcement services (6.8 per cent),
- Community planning and economic development (6.7 per cent),
- Community support services (6.5 per cent),
- Public transit services (5.6 per cent) and
- Corporate services (5.2 per cent).
Another section quizzed residents on specific budgets for those service areas, with the ability to voice support for funding decreases up to 15 per cent and increases of up to 15 per cent.
“The results reflect a nuanced prioritization by respondents, with essential and infrastructure services receiving stronger support for stable or increased funding, while administrative and discretionary areas saw more divided opinions and calls for reductions,” staff’s report says.
Beyond spending, residents were also asked to rank their satisfaction with services offered in different categories on a scale of zero to 10.
Staff note that residents had highest satisfaction with fire protection, parks and police services, neutral satisfaction with corporate services, transit and bylaw enforcement and low satisfaction with community planning, infrastructure and attracting and retaining businesses.
Residents expressed a desire for better and more proactive maintenance on infrastructure, resistance against any reduction of snow-clearing services, concerns about downtown crime and safety, a desire for the city to partner with senior levels of government to address root causes of poverty and addiction, opposition to tax increases, a desire for better efforts to attract new businesses, an expansion of outdoor trails, better transit options and less wasteful spending from city council.
To promote the surveys, the city promoted them on radio, tv, in The Citizen, by email and on various social media platforms.
The total cost of ad purchases for the project as well as to host an Oct. 30 town hall was $14,047.10.
The finance and audit committee meeting starts at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 4 inside council chambers at Prince George City Hall.
