Virtual Town Hall Budget Meeting

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Harford County’s Virtual Town Hall Budget Meeting (VTH) is a combined virtual and live event held each year for citizens to present their budget priorities to the county executive. The purpose of the VTH is to educate citizens about the county budget process and provide convenient options for communicating with decision-makers. With the help of technology and multi-agency cooperation, the VTH offers citizens choices beyond in-person testimony at a public hearing. This is accomplished through “virtual” input that can be sent to the meeting via email, social media, and on a dedicated phone line. To include a broad audience, video of the VTH is streamed live on the county website, on video screens in the local public libraries, and on the local public access cable channel. The VTH begins with a review of the budget process to improve citizens’ understanding of revenue sources and expenditures. County officials then hear in-person testimony from attendees and virtual input, which is read aloud by a moderator. This input is also scrolled on the county website, and visible on social media to enhance transparency. Virtual messages are accepted anytime in the weeks leading up to, and during, the live event. Now in its third year, the VTH has dramatically expanded opportunities for citizens to understand the budget and contribute without physically attending a meeting. The VTH can be seen by anyone on the internet, by 70,000 cable subscribers, and on TV screens at 11 library branches. Since inception in 2015, virtual input has outpaced in-person testimony by an average of 8 to 1. Beyond the numbers, the VTH invites citizens to participate at their convenience, instead of requiring citizens to fit a government meeting into their busy schedules.