Virtual town hall set for Hillsborough budget hearings

Hillsborough residents who don't like the way county government spends their tax dollars will soon have a way to question commissioners' budget decisions directly.

Upcoming budget meetings will be the first "virtual town hall" events, during which residents can comment or ask questions via e-mails or by phone.

"It allows people to participate in county government from the comfort of their homes," said county communications director Lori Hudson. "No more driving downtown or driving to some location."

Hudson said the service should be ready by June 9, the first of four scheduled hearings on the fiscal 2010 budget. If not, Hudson said the July 16 budget hearing will be a virtual town hall meeting, as well as public hearings Sept. 8 and 17.

The concept will work like this: Residents can tune into the commission hearings on the county's cable television station, HTV, or via online streaming video. They can then e-mail questions to budget@hillsboroughcounty.org, or call a telephone hotline. The county has yet to establish the number.

Commissioners will try to answer the questions in real time.

The virtual meeting grew out of a request by Commissioner Al Higginbotham for ideas on how residents could get more involved in the county budget process. Higginbotham and the other commissioners rejected two, more expensive ideas, including video teleconferencing of residents asking questions. The teleconferencing would have cost an estimated $15,000 to $30,000. The only cost for the virtual town hall meeting is $136 for posters to promote the service.

"There are people - I'm one of them - that like to see people I'm talking to. It's that human touch you like," Higginbotham said. "I'm glad we explored it and now we'll do, at a minimum, the e-mail access to the budget meetings."

Hudson said she is working on more ideas to increase citizen participation in the budget process. She will present the ideas to commissioners at the board meeting next Wednesday.

For more information about county media services, go to www.hillsboroughcounty.org and click on Communications Department.