Council Prepares to Crunch Numbers
Prince George, B.C. – Budget discussions get underway at Prince George City Hall tomorrow.
The proposed financial plan calls for a 3% increase (nearly $3.1 million) to maintain service at current levels and cover contractual commitments.
It is also proposed that some line items (separate from general tax) be increased.
The provisional plan calls for a $700 thousand dollar boost to the Snow Control Levy, a further $965,159 be added to the General Infrastructure Reinvestment Fund and an increase of $18,258 to the Road Rehabilitation Fund to bring it to $5 million a year which, when combined with the Community Works funding of about $2 million, will bring the Road Rehabilitation fund to an even $7 million a year.
As promised, the Canada Winter Games levy will disappear, meaning the overall levy will be $2,081,884 less than it would have been if the CWG levy was continued.
When it comes to revenue, the City is predicting $2.6 million for its share of funds from the Casino, unchanged from 2015. Traffic fine revenue is expected to be just over $1 million, down about $31 thousand from the amount received this year.
As has been the case in the past, the public will have an opportunity to address Council prior to the budget discussions getting underway. Although 15 minutes have been set aside for that public input, the Mayor has the discretion to extend that period should it be needed.
The first session gets underway at 3:30 on Wednesday.
Comments
No chance of reducing the work force to a sustainable level?
No chance axman. The city is hell bent on having one manager for every worker. They should be over a 1000 employees soon.
Glad to see there is no talk of cutting costs, just increasing revenue.. business as usual.
Not only has there been talks of cutting costs, but there has also been action – $500,000 savings as a result of disbanding IPG and moving the operation in-house.
Who here thinks that we will see an accounting of that in the budget discussion to show the full cost avoidance of funding IPG and the full cost of bringing that operation into City Hall?
Who here thinks that we will see an accounting of that in the budget discussion to show the full cost avoidance of funding IPG and the full cost of bringing that operation into City Hall?
———-
Who actually believes there will be any cost savings from disbanding IPG? Getting rid of IPG was a political move, if anything it will cost us more since it’s now hidden in the bowels of the bureaucratic hell known as City Hall.
If city council ran their homes like they seem to run the city, they would be bankrupt in less than 6 months…
it is time to realize the city budget funding doesn’t come from a bottomless pocket.
They have to realize that steak can’t always be on the menu.
Helping out different organizations with what they ask is okay IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT.
Time to tell them you can help but they are also going to have to help themselves with money raising activities… I know he whiners and cryers will appear but reality is the pocket is only so deep.
Rent, heat, hydro and food comes before entertainment, at least in my house it does.
“The proposed financial plan calls for a 3% increase (nearly $3.1 million) to maintain service at current levels and cover contractual commitments.”
Contractual commitments? I suppose that means wage and benefit increases to keep our already extremely well-paid municipal staff happy!
We are already paying in the neighbourhood of $25.00 per hour plus benefits for clerk/cashier positions at the swimming pools. A quick search on the City’s website shows a position currently available for “Cleaners” with the CN Centre and Community Arenas Division. Starting salary for this part-time position is posted at $26.07 per hour! The website also states “Excellent benefits and pension”!
Just how “happy” does the City think they need to keep our municipal staff? How about the City put some effort into keeping the taxpayer “happy” for a change?
The problem that it is not a budget in the traditional sense, it is a spending plan with the tax rate adjusted to match planned spending. I got a laugh that the increase on line item spending for snow removal, general infrastructure and roads almost match penny for penny the disappearing CWG levy, seems that once they get their hands a little deeper in our wallets they don’t want to let go. With this slight of hand the total increase is more like 5%.
I think they should add another line item to fund a search and rescue mission for the MIA #1 talking head who no one has seen since he was added to the city’s payroll, I think his name is Waldo Van Adrichem:)
One question that should be asked is if the city is still paying 30% more than Kelowna, Kamloops, and the province for asphalt. Ssssoltz said for years that it was too late to do anything this year but will be all over it next year….only to forget again.
Now we have a new municipal auditor, what do we have to do to get him up to this neck of the woods. At the annual convention the municipalities said that the auditor was not needed as they cannot run a deficit. What a meaningless statement tax is matched to spending. An audit would show if the taxpayer is getting fair value for the dollar or if money is being needlessly wasted.
Anyone who has been involved in the budgeting process of a medium or large private sector could find enough waste in city hall’s spending plan to have a 0% increase in property tax with no job loss. Might be a few less Chinese trinkets on the shelf and computer refresh cycle a year or two longer but they’ll get by.
Comments for this article are closed.