Mayor And Council’s 2012 Provisional Budget Approved
Prince George, BC – Prince George City Councillors have begun the process of working their way through the 2012 provisional operating budget, with an eye to eeking out cost savings as they go…
The budget is based on a 3.12-percent tax increase to maintain core services at last year’s levels and meet the City’s contractual commitments. With the average home in Prince George valued at $211-thousand dollars, this tax increase would amount to an extra 50-dollars in property taxes this July.
However, there have already been some costs re-couped during deliberations on the Mayor and Council’s operating budget. The Mayor’s proposed budget is $140-thousand dollars this year, compared to just over $123-thousand dollars last year. But Mayor Shari Green said she was able to find $5000, or 17-percent, in cuts to non-labour budget items and another $2,000, or 10-percent, in cuts to a contingency fund for economic development. Councillors supported both reductions.
In a bid to show city staff and residents that Councillors, too, are willing to do more with less, Brian Skakun suggested reducing Councillors’ travel budgets, from $6000 to $4000. An amended motion of a 10-percent cut to $5400 was seconded by Mayor Green.
"I can appreciate where Councillor Skakun’s coming from," said Councillor Cameron Stolz, "I will stress one thing, though, and that is, when you stay home you don’t find out about bylaws that teach you how to target grow ops and meth labs and when you stay at home, you don’t find million dollar grants."
After all councillors weighed in with their thoughts on the importance of networking versus fiscal prudence, the motion ended in a 4-4 tie and was defeated.
Councillor Stolz received support on a motion to cut Council’s contingency budget in half – from $50-thousand dollars to $25-thousand – and earmark the dollars into the economic development fund that Mayor Green had earlier trimmed.
In the end, Councillors approved a 2012 provisional budget of $1.2-million dollars for Mayor and Council, which includes the $350-thousand dollar contingency fund for the core services review.
Comments
So council voted to NOT decrease their travel budgets and they also agreed to transfer money from a contingency fund (which normally means it may or may not have been spent) into an “economic development fund” that almost certainly sounds like it will be spent. LOL.
Oh and they make it sounds as though costs “re-couped” are the same as costs cut. They aren’t. If taxes are going up 3.12% that still means that spending at the city is going up at the end of the day from what it was last year. You can word smith all you want, but the math is pretty simple.
Well that is just smoke and mirrors. Seem Skakun is the only one that see’s through it
Do we not have 9 (as in NINE) people on city council so that there are NO TIES. What is this crap? Even in the case of someone being absent, can their vote not be registered?
NMG has it right it is all smoke and mirrors. In the end mayor and council are giving themselves a 30 per cent raise in pay while jacking up our taxes, cutting jobs and reducing services.
Sorry it was vocer who said “smoke and mirrors”.
It is interesting to see our new mayor is spending $17 thousand MORE this year than rodgers spent last year. That’s about a 13% increase. Wait, didn’t she run on a platform to CUT 10%? Ah yes “smoke and mirrors.”
Shameful start Mayor! Shameful..
“The Mayor’s proposed budget is $140-thousand dollars this year, compared to just over $123-thousand dollars last year. But Mayor Shari Green said she was able to find $5000, or 17-percent, in cuts to non-labour budget items and another $2,000, or 10-percent, in cuts to a contingency fund for economic development. Councillors supported both reductions.”
Am I reading this correctly?
The $140,000 budget is after the $5,000 and $2,000 were removed so that it was originally $147,000 which equates to finding 4.8%.
Or was the original budget $140,000 which becomes $133,000 after the two reductions for a resulting 5% reduction?
The 17% and 10% line item cuts are one part of the smoke and mirrors.
The other thing we must not forget is starting off with a budget that is more than 10% higher than last years budget.
BTW, it looks like there is still about $24,500 in the non-labour budget item and $18,000 in the economic development contingency fund. That totals $42,500.
Take that from the $140,000 and I am wondering what exaclty is meant by the “mayor’s budget”?
I would think that the mayor;s budget is the running of the mayor’s office- her salary and benefits, that of her exec assistant, office operations, travel and then any funds set aside for injecting into dicretionary programs that are really of a contingency nature in my world of cost accounting.
So, what DOES it cost to run the mayor’s office and where is that compared to last year?
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