City staff to finalize budget

January 13, 2009 6:00 PM Salmon Arm Observor:

Split: Council disagrees over making staff reach budget decisions. After a few more cuts, Salmon Arm council handed the 2009 budget back to city staff to make the final chop to a one per cent tax increase. At a Jan. 12 meeting, city council approved the transportation parcel tax of $120 per parcel, doubled from $60 last year, and a two per cent increase in sewer user fees. Councillors also approved a 7.3 per cent increase in water user fees to pay for the new water treatment plant. Returning after deliberations in 2008 that reduced the initial tax increase from seven down to three per cent, council was still looking Monday for a lower figure. Coun. Alan Harrison said he appreciated having the time over the holidays to reflect. “I still think that three per cent and also the increase to water, sewer and the parcel tax are too much for the times we’re in presently.”

He suggested council reduce the proposed budget of $1,592,500 for asphaltic overlays on the city road network by $70,000. Coun. Ivan Idzan pointed out that if council decided to reduce the road budget, the public should be made aware that roads would deteriorate faster as a result. “A decrease in the asphaltic overlay budget would result in degradation of those services.” Mayor Marty Bootsma said the city was already behind in road maintenance, and did not support the idea. City director of engineering and public works Dale McTaggart pointed out a 2008 study pinpointed $2.3 million annually as required to maintain the road system, and the city spent $750,000 on road maintenance last year. Coun. Kevin Flynn said the road budget was one of the only large budget items council could alter, and even after the reduction there would still be a 30 per cent increase in the road budget from last year. Coun. Chad Eliason added the city has more than 200 kilometres of roads. “Their life expectancy, in our weather, is difficult to maintain.”

The reduction in asphaltic overlay funding carried, with Idzan, Eliason and Bootsma opposed. After a short in-camera discussion, council returned to propose that the budget be handed back to city staff to find further ways to trim the budget down to a one per cent tax increase. Harrison said the intent was to recognize the economic times. “I know this is a difficult thing for staff to do.” Flynn added that in today’s environment, the city needs to get the tax increase as low as possible. Bootsma said he was against handing the budget to staff, pointing out that council asks for items like the pesticide bylaw or the OCP review, and these political decisions all cost money. Idzan said he was also against the proposal, commenting that it would be asking staff to pick politically unpopular items to cut. “I don’t think we should ask staff to make those choices.” He added that the decrease would not come from reducing small items, but from making cuts to large budget items.

Eliason said if the city does not raise taxes a little bit, projects become more expensive and the city would then be looking at a larger tax increase in the future. “It adds up and it builds up, the problem doesn’t go away.” Coun. Ken Jamieson said staff are the experts in their departments. “I think this is the ultimate way we can show trust in our senior staff.” Coun. Debbie Cannon pointed out that council had started with a seven per cent tax increase and reduced it to about 2.25 per cent. Bootsma asked council if staff came back and said to lose budget items, would they be prepared to accept that. “I strongly feel we’re just shirking our responsibilities here.”

The motion was carried, with Harrison, Cannon, Flynn and Jamieson in favour. Idzan, Eliason and Bootsma voted in opposition. The budget was given back to staff, and deferred to the Jan. 26 council meeting.