Council empowered with ‘better ownership’ of Town budget

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Taber Times

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Before the Town of Taber sent out a media release on July 30 inviting the public to submit budget ideas for 2026, council had to approve the project. After it did so on July 21, the public engagement was opened to any Taber resident to submit their ideas or project suggestions for council to consider as part of the 2026 Budget planning process.

 “Whether it’s an improvement to a park, a new piece of infrastructure, or an idea for a community program, residents are encouraged to share their vision for a better Taber,” a Town news release said.

 “We want to hear directly from our residents – what matters to you, what inspires you, and what you think would make Taber an even better place to work, play, raise families, and grow,” Mayor Andrew Prokop said in a statement.

 During its July 21 meeting, council discussed the public engagement process, and Interim Finance Director Rob Osmond explained that the project would cost approximately $2,300 under Manager Meghan Brennan’s direction. Osmond told council that due to the upcoming municipal election on Oct. 25, “time is short” to complete the information gathering for the budget.

 All agreed that the annual operating and capital budgets should receive final approval by council on Oct. 13 prior to the election. To achieve that, the administration recommended a timeline that would first prioritize the public and council engagement proposals between July 22 and Aug. 5, to be reviewed during the third week of August. The expediency of that timeline was changed to allow for a longer public engagement period and is now open until Aug. 27.

 Following that, a review of budgets and proposals from community organizations was scheduled the week of Sept. 8. Requests from community organizations are completed every three years and are due to be completed in this cycle.

 “Each funding request will be reviewed by council and if supported by the majority of council will be referred to administration for further development and inclusion in the operating or capital budget for council consideration,” the meeting agenda said.

 Finally, the administration recommended that council schedule two special meetings for budget deliberations spaced apart by at least two days. The meetings were set for the week of Sept. 29.

 Osmond said he had outlined a system of budget preparation that he had used in other municipalities – one in which council could drive the decision-making process.

 “The main focus of the changes is to put key budget decisions back in the hands of council,” he said. “A lot of budget development processes have become very reliant on the administration producing a budget and then either looking for council to adopt (it), or in kind of a worse scenario, trying to sell administration’s vision of the budgeting to council.”

 Osmond thought that after developing a series of potential ideas, council could refer to those over the course of the year, adjusting as needed. Those could include legislation changes, programming opportunities, or budget savings.

 “Then we put those decisions in front of what I call a light switch exercise. So you go through saying, ‘Yeah, we’d like to do that one or no, that’s not a project issue,’” he explained. He believed it would make for “better ownership of the budget” for council.

 Coun. Sorensen liked the public engagement component of the budgeting process, but said, “It seems like we’re rushing it, and really with the turnover and of a new council and them doing strategic planning, it would almost make sense for it…to be shared there at that strategic planning – and how they’re going to move forward the next four years with the requests of the citizens, instead of us deciding last minute.”

 Mayor Prokop said he was in close agreement with Sorensen. “It makes good sense, and as you just suggested, it makes more sense to do that with the new council. But I think getting as far as we can for the most part for that new council is also helpful and necessary.”

 Prokop deferred to Coun. Bekkering, a council veteran whom the mayor said had “excellent experience and expertise in that regard, particularly the finance side.”

 Bekkering weighed in, saying, “I have never heard of a council before election passing a budget for the new council. It’s probably not very beneficial. At the same time, there’s so much information that I think we can start the process of meetings. And after all, no matter which council decides, it’s still only an interim budget.”

 “I appreciate the fact that you encourage public input,” Bekkering continued. “I think it would be minimal, in my view, but nevertheless, it’s an opportunity, and I think we should proceed as you recommended.”

 That said, he thought the cutoff off Aug. 5 for public engagement should be extended and it has since been pushed to Aug. 27.

 Coun. McLean offered this: “I do like this the way it’s presented. It’s not necessarily that we’re going to get a lot of input, but I think it’s great that we present that option to the public.”

 She moved that council accept the 2026 to 2029 operating and capital budget framework as presented, further that the project and services proposal forms be circulated for public and council input into the budget process, with the budget for project communications of $2,300 funded from operations. Council approved the motion and the project is in progress.