2021-02-09 Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                   9 FEBRUARY 2021


be used, and then be reviewed and refined to determine their effectiveness and use for future
budget engagement.

Recommended Budget Engagement Timetable
The following timetable is proposed to ensure that consultation can occur effectively and that
Council’s budget adoption timeframe (i.e. adopted on 30 June 2021) can be met.

 Month           Planning / Engagement Actions
 February 2021      Special Council meeting – 2021/22 budget scene setting session
                    Council budget consultation webpage setup
                    Finalise ‘balance the budget’ software configuration
                    Determine budget engagement online survey and polling approach
                    Establish software feedback reporting process and dashboards
                    Promote budget engagement process including online and face to face approaches
 March 2021         Council budget engagement goes live via Your Say Noosa – feedback encouraged
                    “Balance the Budget’ support in place (including any face to face requests)
                    Online survey and polling commences
 April 2021         Councillor / community face to face sessions completed
                    Online survey and polling closes
                    “Balance the Budget’ online submissions close (including any face to face requests)
                    Feedback from consultation presented to Special Council meeting for discussion
 May 2021           Draft budget documents published for community feedback
 June 2021          Feedback on draft budget presented to Special Council meeting for discussion
                    Meeting to adopt 2021/22 budget and operational plan

Summary
This will be Council’s first attempt at undertaking a consultation process for the budget, and there
will likely be learnings and improvement opportunities for future budget engagements. As such a
relatively simple and cost effective approach has been recommended which, if successful, can
be built on and expanded in future years once the cost benefit has been established.
Should the state government mandate budget consultation for councils across Queensland
(which is expected), Council will be well placed to adapt as needed to any regulatory change.

Previous Council Consideration
Ordinary Meeting Minutes, 15 October 2020, Item 7, Page 23
That Council note the report by the Director Corporate Services to the General Committee
Meeting dated 12 October 2020 and:
A.    Note the outcomes of the community budget consultation undertaken between 7–27
      September 2020, provided as Attachment 1 to the report;
B.    Note that Council will consider the priorities identified in the feedback when undertaking
      future 2020-21 budget reviews; and
C.    Note the community’s preference for online community budget engagement process for
      future budgets and request staff to report back to a future Council meeting with options.
Ordinary Meeting Minutes, 18 June 2020, Item 6, Page 10
That Council note the report by the Director Corporate Services to the Services & Organisation
Committee Meeting dated 9 June 2020 and:
A.    Following Council’s adoption of the 2020/21 Budget, agree to engage with the community
      via Your Say Noosa on:

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