Where should the money go? Have your say on the budget.

The online budget allocator

We're now into the third and final part of our totally new approach to planning The City of Calgary budget. From now until May 27, 2011, every Calgary citizen has the opportunity to make decisions about where the money goes.

Where should we be investing more? Where should we cut back?

As Mayor Nenshi has said, it's time we turned the budget process on its head. Now that many Calgarians have learned about the many services provided by the City from environment to transportation to our safety and security, it's time to start putting pen to paper.

People can do that in one of two ways:

Budget allocator tool - The budget allocator provides information about City services and budgets, and gathers input, suggestions and priorities from participants by simulating some of the difficult decisions Council and Administration face when deciding how to allocate financial resources. Participants can see how their choices may impact City budgets. And for those who want even more detail on the previous budget, here's a link to the full 2008-2011 budgets for each business unit.

Community conversations (pdf) - For a more personal, discussion-based format, citizens can drop-in to a community conversation, where they can make their choices on a budget worksheet after considering information at a series of stations about City services. These are held around the city from May 10 - 16.

Whatever option you choose, your recommendations will be shared with Mayor Nenshi and City Council to help them make budget decisions later this year. Your feedback will make a difference; this is a big change from the previous system of budgeting when Council heard from the community only near the end of the process.

Here's a look at the online budget allocator tool in action:

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team