The intent of our project was to gain public input early into the budget process by increasing civic engagement activities. We wanted to be transparent regarding the status of the budget and to solicit input from the community on tough decisions while they were still being made. Humboldt County’s innovative solution to this challenge was its Interactive Multi-Site Community Meeting. This was an interactive meeting held on one night in five locations. In years past, Humboldt County held five to seven budget meetings in the evenings over a two-week period in different locations throughout the County. We found the effort spent on these meetings over the extended period of time did not produce the advanced input we sought. We needed an innovative, yet cost-effective way to hold these meetings early in the budget process and gain more involvement from the community.