According to the results of the recent Budget and City Services Survey, 54 percent of respondents are in favour of City Council’s implementation of a dedicated infrastructure levy. 

City Manager Jim Puffalt introduced the results to City Council on Monday night, stating that there seemed to be "good support" for the direction of Council's 2020 budget. 

"We are on our timeline to get the budget to council," said Puffalt, "so we're excited and glad that we had an opportunity to talk to the public about the survey itself."

Significantly, out of the 212 respondents, 82 percent voted for the City to maintain current services, with a modest property tax increase or expansion of programs when necessary. 

However, due to the low number and total anonymity of the respondents, Councillor Brian Swanson suggested that the results are not "statistically valid." 

"They really don't tell you anything in a statistically valid way," said Swanson. "Two hundred and twelve respondents out of a voting population of over 22 thousand is less than one percent. You would have to have some caveats on participation. I would take these with a large grain of salt." 

Mayor Fraser Tolmie stated that he was "grateful" to all of the respondents, and said he hopes that council continues to encourage public engagement. 

"We always have to take the surveys that we get and understand that they're a fractal of the community that we represent... just as we seven around this table are a fractal of the community."

Councillor Chris Warren suggested that rather than a definitive indication, the results are a "snapshot in time" of Moose Javian's opinions.  

"These are questions that were put through in the last budget cycle, in public, through the budget committee process, so these are all an indication of the conversations that we've had as an administration and as a council, that are questions that are important. I appreciate the work that went into this and the feedback that we got." 

The Budget and City Services survey was released to the public on August 16 and was open for responses through September 6, 2019. The survey contained 12 questions, written by the Director of Financial Services and City Manager related to City Finances. 

Council will draw on the results of the survey as City budget 2020 draws closer to completion.

You can view the complete results of the survey here.