City of Portage la Prairie using graphic animation to communicate budget to citizens

The City of Portage la Prairie is bridging the gap between financial jargon and everyday citizens in an animated way. City Councillor and Chair of Finance, Joe Masi says they've released the first in a series of six short, informative videos which are designed to break down budgetary details into digestible chunks. The videos are narrated by Masi and feature a cartoon version of him. He explains the decision to make the videos came after this year's budget speech and is part of an overall effort to make City of Portage la Prairie business accessible to the public. 

 "Our mayor and our council are very committed to being open and accessible and explaining things to people. I think this is an extension of that; we're going to communicate our budget to people in a simple and hopefully animated way. This is going to give them a nice two minute snapshot on every aspect of the budget. For instance, if someone is very interested in community safety and says 'what's council doing in this budget?' they can click on it and see a  two minute video" 

Masi anticipates a positive public response to the release noting the first video focuses on the overall impact of the budget on residents as individuals. Future topics will include items from the strategic plan such as tourism and infrastructure. Masi says he isn't aware of any other councils who have approached budget communication in this format, so they're excited to gauge the response to the new initiative. He extends his thanks to the council for prioritizing the project as well as the City of Portage la Prairie staff members who designed the graphics and animations.