Online survey shows 61% indicate satisfaction with Region's effort to provide services, top concerns for funding are the elderly and homeless
Some relatively good news for the Niagara region when it comes to public perception of the budget.
Lesli Martin is with Pollara Insights, and says of 980 respondents to an online survey, 61% had a favourable view of services provided by the region.
She told council recently the top concern is the elderly at 45%, followed by vulnerable people, or homelessness. "People have this perception that this is a growing problem in the region. They talk about seeing tent cities that they haven't seen before. However, they also thought there are a lot of organizations, in particular, charitable organizations, that are doing good work in this area."
She added people still expect more efficient use of tax money, while they understand there are inflationary pressures to deal with.
She adds a focus group also discussed concern for buying a home.
"They talked about some of these developments, in the region, what they perceived to be quite luxurious... and that what was considered affordable housing, might not actually be affordable to most of them."
Councillor Peter Secord said if he ran his business the same way, he'd be out of business.
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