Recap of the October 24th Budget Committee Meeting: 2024 Budget Survey

Elgin County's Budget Committee released their 2024 Budget Survey on September 13th.

The survey was posted for one month and focused respondent input on 28 questions related to services offered by the County of Elgin. The majority of the questions (26) were quantitative, with predetermined ratings such as Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree or “Other,” which allowed some comments to be left. Two of the questions were qualitative which allowed respondents the opportunity to freely provide their opinions.

The County of Elgin has a population size of approximately 51,0001 persons (all ages – not inclusive of the City of St. Thomas). While our goal is to reach as many residents as possible during the survey period, 844 individuals chose to access the survey and 220 of those individuals filled out the survey. Therefore, approximately 26% of the individuals accessing the survey did complete the survey. At a higher level, the survey reached approximately 1.7% of the County’s population, with 26% of this subset responding to the survey. While the small sample size may not materially represent our population base, it is a similar submission size compared to prior years.

The results of this survey were presented to the Budget Committee on October 24th. The presentation from this meeting can be accessed at the following link: https://rb.gy/4w00cl

The following is a recap of key findings from the Budget Survey:

Departmental Findings:

Transportation Services: The majority of respondents felt that this service remained Very important and that the spending in this category should be maintained.
Government Services, Administration, County Council and Committees: Respondents identified that they felt that there was either an appropriate amount or too much spent on this service with a large number remaining neutral or identifying the need for more information in order to answer this question.
Economic Development and Tourism: Most of the respondents felt that the programs were effective and that maintaining funding was
more popular this year than in prior years.
Planning and Development: The majority of respondents felt that the Service was Important and wished to increase or maintain investment in this area.
Public Health: The majority of respondents identified this as an important service at some level.
Emergency Medical Services: The majority of respondents identified this as an important service at some level.
Cultural Services (Library, Archives & Museum): The majority of respondents felt that this was a service of importance on some level to them, with the majority feeling that funding should be maintained or increased.
Social Services and Affordable Housing: There was almost an even split between maintaining and increasing funding for these services.
Long-Term Care Homes and Senior Services: The majority of respondents identified this as an important service. The majority of respondents voted to Maintain or Increase funding in this area.

The top two priorities that should receive more tax dollars:

Social services (inclusive of supportive housing)
Long-Term Care

The top choice where fewer tax dollars should be spent:

Providing grants for community programs, services and events

Budget Committee Meeting Video