Red Deer business owners, non-profit's, support service, and RDC representatives met with Alberta Minister of Finance Joe Ceci this afternoon, to talk about the upcoming 2017 budget.

It was the 6th consultation held in preperation for the upcoming budget, with Ceci hearing from those groups about possible ways to trim the budget, or where they'd like to see spending adjusted.

Ceci says they're trying to get ideas of what Albertans want to see spending focused on, without making cuts to health, education, and human services, something members in attendence echoed.

"There was a lot of folks from the community support sector there. They were saying they work cheaply and smart, and if we continue to support them, we'll see benefits down the road with people in the Red Deer area. So they were saying that's the smart thing to do. Spend money preventatively, don't cut them."

Ceci says while there isn't much room in the budget to add significant items, some would take precedence over others.

"You know on the Operational side of our budget we need to find ways to turn down the spending tap. But on the Capital side, I talked about how we're contributing greater amounts of capital dollars to infrastructure spending. We see that as a really good use of dollars, particularly where it helps the economy."

You'll have your chance to provide some feedback at the end of the month, with a telephone town call scheduled for January 31st.

Or you can visit the link below to provide feedback, and signup for the town hall.

https://www.alberta.ca/budget.aspx