As the time nears that the 2024 Municipal Budget must be finalized, the Town of Salisbury wants your input on what the priorities should be.
The survey at the link below is designed to gain relevant and valuable feedback from residents who wish to have input on the 2024 Budget.
This consultation allows for Council to create an appropriate foundation to meet the public service needs of our residents, as well as maintain public infrastructure.
VIDEO: How Your Municipal Budget is Made > > > > > > >
A QUICK GUIDE TO BUDGETS:
Each year, municipalities are required to prepare a budget to identify priorities for the upcoming year. The budget is a summarized plan of the money coming into the municipality and how it will be distributed over a specified period of time. This financial plan allows Council to estimate the required resources to complete the business plan.
Following local governance reform in New Brunswick, the budget is based off five sub-units, reflecting the former Municipality of the Village of Salisbury and surrounding Local Service Districts (LSDs) that now form the Town of Salisbury. There are shared expenses that are shared amongst all entities with former LSDs paying 90% of the cost of their shared portion of the cost. There are also sub-unit specific expenses that are related to contracts, such as waste collection or costs that only apply to the former Village.
There are three types of budget expenses: Operating, Capital, and Utility.
The Operating Budget includes all expenses associated with the day-to-day operations of departments. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Protective services
- General government
- Transportation
- Environmental development services
The Capital Budget is for all the larger, and typically long-term, projects and is primarily related to maintaining, upgrading, and/or replacing the Town’s infrastructure. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Buildings
- Roads
- Land
- Vehicles
The Utility Budget is sewer. Unlike how Operating and Capital budgets are funded through tax-based and own-source revenue, the Utility Budget is funded by user charges, which is an annual billing.
Each expense can be divided into one of three categories: fixed, semi-fixed, and variable.
Fixed: contractual, tax-base based, fiscal services
Semi-fixed: personnel, required services (adjustable figures)
Variable: events, programming, supplies, etc.