The Cariboo Regional District is working toward a zero per cent increase on its 2013 budget.
“We’re trying to hold the line on a zero per cent increase,” CRD chair Al Richmond told the Tribune, Friday, Oct. 26. “At the present time it looks quite promising. We identified a couple of areas where we want staff to go back and look at where some changes can be made.”
The CRD began preliminary budget discussions Oct. 25, the day before their regular board meeting on Friday.
Richmond said the board felt some of the budget items looked a little “light” and staff needed to make some reconsiderations to bring back to the first formal budget meeting on Nov. 15.
“We wondered if there was enough in some of the budget for reserves and whether staff had looked at some other options of doing something, it’s a matter of looking at the cost allocations and making sure we know as best we can if there’s enough money there. What we don’t want to do in this exercise is to underfund something and cut too far.”
One of the other things the board’s been looking at is updating its bylaws in regards to urban farming. That will take time and money, Richmond said as one example of making sure the budget has room.
At the next budget meeting Thursday, Nov. 15 the board will receive more detailed reports from staff. The budget meetings are open to the public.
The proposed budget will be presented to residents during three sub-regional meetings in 100 Mile House, Quesnel and Williams Lake in January and February.
