City councillors say there's plenty of work to do before finalizing the 2024 budget and highlighted rising inflation and increasing utility fees as their biggest concerns this year.
City staff's draft budget for next year proposes a 5.5 per cent property tax increase, as well as a 7.2 per cent utility bill increase. Homeowners with a property value of $500,000 would be taxed an additional $226 next year as the budget currently stands, and the utility bill increase results in an additional $125.28 per year, or $10.44 per month.
Mayor Cathy Heron was unavailable to comment on the draft budget and Coun. Natalie Joly did not respond to an interview request, however the Gazette spoke with the other five members of council about their initial thoughts on the proposed budget.
Coun. Sheena Hughes said one of her biggest concerns is the proposed utility rate increase.
“I understand that there are inflationary costs, but we also have to face the fact that people's salaries are not going up to meet the level of inflation that we're having,” Hughes said, adding, “there will be a lot of questions being asked about the utility rate increase to justify this and to figure out how we can actually get those taxes down to a more manageable number.”
“I'm going to do the best I can to get the taxes as low as possible for the tax increase.”
Also saying she was concerned about the utility rate increase was Coun. Shelley Biermanski, who said she planned to focus on trying to lower the increase during budget deliberations next month.
“I'll be digging for efficiencies again, and the thing that I'll probably be addressing the most is (the) extra fees added on to utilities,” she said.
“I think that people are pretty strapped with extra fees on everything... but it all adds up no matter where it's added on too.”
Coun. Ken MacKay said that given inflationary pressures affecting city operations, he wasn't surprised to see the proposed property tax be 5.5 per cent.
“It's not unexpected and it certainly allows council some room to manoeuvre and add and subtract,” MacKay said. “I think most of us are still hoping to get under five (per cent), similar to where we were last year.”
“There's a realization that there are inflationary costs and other costs impacting us so I think (a 5.5 property tax increase) is a reasonable starting point.”
Likewise, Coun. Mike Killick said inflationary pressures mean council will have some “hard choices” to make about next year's budget.
“The city is facing increasing costs and we do have a list of projects that we have to look at and see how we can fund as well, so our baseline costs are going up and ... we have to make some hard choices as we go forward,” he said.
Killick also noted city staff's proposed budget for 2024 contains fewer major capital projects besides those already approved under the city's repair, maintain, replace (RMR) program, a budget for which received council approves each June.
“Construction costs are quite simply going through the roof whether it's paving costs, or cement work or digging roadbeds, water and sewer pipes, you name it ... so we're going to have to make some really tough decisions as to what kind of projects we can go forward with.”
Of the 42 capital projects included in the draft budget, council heard on Tuesday, 25 are included and funded through the RMR budget for a total of $31.5 million, while the remaining projects designed to help support municipal growth total $9.96 million.
“There are a significant number of capital projects, perhaps not the big numbers that they were last year, but it's not as if it's an off-year,” Coun. Wes Brodhead said.
The city's 2023 budget funded 15 growth capital projects, two fewer than what is being proposed for next year, however the cost of those projects this year was nearly $25 million, largely a result of the $17 million that was budgeted for the construction work on Villeneuve Road.
“Everybody's still busy here and there's a bunch of stuff coming down the pipe,” said Brodhead, noting that he was pleased to see that almost $1.6 million was included in city staff's recommended capital growth spending list for the detailed design of Millennium Park.
From now until Nov. 7 residents can submit feedback on the proposed 2024 budget on the city's Cultivate the Conversation platform.
Council is currently scheduled to hear presentations from each city department regarding the proposed 2024 budget on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1.
Following the departmental presentations, council will have two weeks to submit motions to make changes to the budget, which will then be debated at the end of November.
