For the second year in a row, the City of Weyburn has opened their budget committee meetings to the public as council works through the requests for 2003.

Prior to any cuts to the proposed budget, council had $656,000 to trim in order to balance the budget between expenditures and revenue, and after some initial cutting was made there is still a long ways to go.

Like last year, the budget meetings so far have been sparsely attended by the public, although the meetings are available to watch on the community channel. Part of the reason may be the timing of the meetings this year, which were started in mid-December. As the director of finance, Paul Shupe, is set to wind up his position at City Hall on Jan. 17, council hoped to get in some budget meetings before then. With Christmas and New Year's on most people's minds at this time of year, a budget committee meeting is going to be far down the list.

As the budget process continues, hopefully the public won't pass up this opportunity to see and hear how their tax dollars will work this year, as the councillors try to decide what expenditures or projects can stay in for 2003 and what can wait for another year.

Under the capital budget, one particular item will be coming up for public consultation in January as it takes half of the proposed budget, namely major renovations to the Colosseum.

First built in 1961, there are a number of improvements required for the city's main arena, including the base concrete floor which has a large crack in it. The question for council, and for user groups and the public in general, is the request for $1.5 million for this year feasible? Are the plans adequate to what is needed, or are there some extras in the plans to upgrade that really could wait for another time?

The same question could apply to other requests before council; for example, the city recreation staff put in a request for $25,000 for the Signal Hill Arts Centre, which council attempted to delete from the budget.

The concern is that the aging facility needs much more extensive work than even $25,000 can touch, and maybe this would be money badly spent unless a plan is in place as to how to address the facility's needs. In the end, it was felt some basic work is needed to keep the centre running until a more extensive plan is in place, to either bring the facility up to grade or to move the arts programs out to another facility.

A good part of the budget is made up of expenses that cannot be adjusted much, such as salaries, benefits, insurance costs and government grant levels; this of course puts pressure on the remainder of the budget requirements. The budget is at the crucial stage where residents can let their council members know what kind of direction they should be taking in making final decisions on funding; this is the part where citizens can have a voice, instead of later when the tax notices come out and the budget is fixed for the year. - G.N.