Rossland’s budget/financial planning activities are guided by Council’s Strategic Plan and the city’s Official Community Plan, both of which sets the direction for the community’s future. Each year, the City aligns its financial planning and service delivery with the priorities identified in the plan — ensuring that every dollar spent helps advance Council’s vision for Rossland to be a viable, sustainable, smart, diverse, and livable small city.
As part of this annual process, the City continually reviews current and future levels of service to make sure resources are used effectively and that we’re providing the right services at the right levels to meet community needs. This means regularly assessing what we do, how we do it, and where we can improve — whether that’s maintaining essential infrastructure, enhancing public spaces/activities, or investing in new initiatives that support long-term community goals.
Furthermore, in recent years, the City of Rossland has made significant progress in incorporating larger, long-term financial considerations into both the current year’s annual budget and the five-year financial plan. This approach ensures that our day-to-day financial decisions support the City’s broader vision and long-term sustainability. By taking a proactive, forward-thinking approach, we’re better positioned to address Rossland’s aging infrastructure and the growing infrastructure deficit. While we recognize that our fiscal resources are limited, we are committed to making thoughtful, responsible choices that balance affordability today with the investments needed for a resilient future. Through careful planning, community input, and ongoing review, the City will continue working to strengthen Rossland’s financial foundation and ensure our infrastructure and services meet the needs of residents now and for generations to come.
What is a Five Year Financial Plan
The Five-Year Financial Plan (also commonly referred to as a budget), is a tool to enhance local government accountability and service delivery and sets out the City’s legal expenditure authority. Under the Community Charter, a Financial Plan must be adopted by May 15th of each year, and must include the following:
- Current fiscal year and the next four fiscal years (five-year plan)
- Proposed expenditures such as operating, capital, interest, and principal on debt
- Funding sources such as taxes, fees, grants, new borrowing from debt
- Transfers to and from reserve funds and surplus
- Objectives and policies regarding the distribution of funding sources, property taxes and the use of permissive tax exemptions.
Local governments are not permitted to budget for a deficit (when planned expenditures and transfers are higher than planned revenues and transfers). A Financial Plan must be adopted before the annual tax rate bylaw can be adopted. In other words, a municipality can’t set tax rates until it has developed and approved a plan on how said taxes would be spent.

Table Talks was an informal, world café-style event designed to give residents a welcoming, drop-in opportunity to:
- Explore the current draft 2026 budget and 2026-2030 Five Year Financial Plan,
- Ask questions to Council/Staff on projects and initiatives and,
- Provide comments/suggestions and share feedback on everything we do.
Documents related to the Table Talks Event (this will be updated)

Reports and Documents related to our Five-Year Financial Plan
Draft 2026-2030 Five Year Financial Plan: Preliminary Operating Budget Discussion
Draft 2026-2030 Five Year Financial Plan: Preliminary Capital Budget
2022- 2026 Council Strategic Plan
2025 Corporate Management Work Plan

