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After five days of discussion over sixty-plus amendments, this year’s City Council budget debate could be characterized as a difficult, yet productive journey. When we began these discussions last Friday, there were $58 million in unfunded initiatives and a 4.9% proposed property tax increase before Council. At the same time, we’d heard loud and clear… Read More
We are now deep into budget discussions for the City’s 2016-2018 Operating Budget and there are still difficult decisions ahead over which initiatives to fund and which ones we can reduce to get closer to a reasonable tax increase. This year – as in the past – police funding draws a significant amount of attention. On… Read More
This year’s three-year Operating Budget binder is exactly 734 pages long, and over the past week I’ve been over it numerous times looking for ways to reduce what Council is asking you to contribute to building, running, and fixing our City. When planning for this budget started, we were the fastest growing city in the… Read More
Given all the foreboding comments Premier Prentice had made in the weeks and months leading up to yesterday’s provincial budget announcement, we were all bracing for the worst. Instead, we got something in the middle. Generally, I’m pleased that the Premier and his cabinet listened to what we have been saying repeatedly over the past… Read More
With ‘Budget 2015’ deliberations well underway, Council has already made some important decisions (*pending final budget approval) that will have a dramatic effect on the look and feel of our city. Our commitment to infrastructure investments will ensure that we don’t fall behind again and we stay (moderately) abreast of our growth pressures rather than… Read More