Here's how to participate in Victoria's virtual budget town hall

VICTORIA -- The City of Victoria is offering residents the chance to share their input on the city’s 2021 draft budget next week.

The municipality is planning to hold a virtual budget town hall meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 6:30 p.m.

Anyone interested in sharing their opinions can submit a comment or question to the city through the website engage.victoria.ca. Alternatively, comments and questions can be submitted using the hashtag #victownhall on Twitter.

Victorians also have the opportunity to call into the virtual town hall meeting or submit a video to be played during the event. Both the call and the video must remain under three minutes long.

Anyone looking to call in to the meeting must register at [e-mail] by 2 p.m. Jan. 12. Videos must be submitted at the same website by 2 p.m. on Jan. 11.

Residents looking to call at the last minute may also do so during the virtual town hall. According to the city, a phone number and access code will be provided during the live event.

Besides participating in the virtual town hall, the city has opened up an online survey for Victorian’s to voice their opinions. The survey can be found here and must be completed by Jan. 10.

Victoria’s current draft budget for 2021 totals approximately $308.8 million. The majority of the proposed budget, $255.9 million, is going towards the city’s current services and operation of more than 200 programs. The remaining $52.9 million is going towards capital infrastructure projects, though council is considering moving an additional $3 million into the capital budget for any other potential projects.

“The 2021 draft budget proposes to maintain current service levels and keep the tax increase to one per cent plus inflation,” said the municipality in a release Tuesday.

“This investment will enable council to continue to enhance the well-being of the community, invest in infrastructure upgrades and achieve the city’s strategic plan.”