Niverville Town Council held an open house on Tuesday evening to give residents a chance to give feedback on the town's proposed budget for 2017.

Mayor Myron Dyck says council held a similar open house before their planning session so they could better understand resident's priorities. He notes this is a chance to hear what the people of Niverville are thinking.

"We want to invite them to come out and become a part of this because we believe in working together and it is not just council making a decision on their behalf. What was a priority for them a few years ago is a different priority now, for instance like policing, in light of recent events in the community, they want to know what is going on with that. What money is being spent."

Dyck notes there were many poster boards at the open house explaining where the town is planning to spend money in 2017.

"We've tried to address a cross section of our potential projects and various departments. People may not be aware of what do we spend on roads, or what do we spend on policing, or recreation, or things like that. This helps to try and just give some explanation to that."

Dyck says councilors and city staff attended the open house to answer questions and listen to residents. He notes if everything goes according to plan, Niverville will see a small tax increase this year.

"If the budget is passed as the rough draft that has been provided to council, we are looking at keeping with our policy of maintaining a 2% increase, that is the number we have tried to work with year over year. This is only going to be passed in April so there is still opportunities for residents to speak to it."

Dyck says all of the information presented at the open house will be available on the town's website for those that could not make it Tuesday evening.