Back to Budget Talks

Monday, February 13, 2006 04:00 AM

City Council resumes budget deliberations today.
The talks get underway at 4:30.

There is a request to add some new programs and at least one employee, namely an “Environmental Coordinator - Air Quality”. That job carries a salary of $89 thousand dollars.

The other requests up for discussion tonight are:

A request from the Prince George river Boat Association that the City set aside a contingency fund to cover costs of the development of a concrete boat launch on River Road. The Association has already collected more than $80,000 in donations for the project, but worries there may be a shortfall in the $150 thousand dollar project.
$65 thousand dollars for the Northern Lights festival,
$40 thousand for a Waste Composition study (money might be recovered through a grant and the community works fund)
$68 thousand for trail maintenance
$51 thousand for turf for the new ball fields at Carrie Jane Grey and the Nechako ball fields
$59 thousand for manhole repairs

There is some good news, snow removal costs for last year were in under budget. The 2005 budget was $3.389 million, and the actual amount spent was $3.372 million. The budget request for the year ahead is $4.19 million
Here are some of the other budgets being presented:
Transit: expenditures of $2.9 million with revenue of $1.19 million
Road and Street Maintenance: $1.589 million
Sidewalk Maintenance: $80,506
Street Cleaning/ Dust Control: $844 thousand

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Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 13 2006 7:38 AM

Man the taxpayers of the city sure are rich! They sure are paying for cadillac service. Price of the caddy seems to be going up every year. And there is no end to the luxurious options added every year too. Must be nice to spend that much money. Just wave a pen and it all gets taken care of.

Posted by: Chadermando on February 13 2006 7:39 AM

I strongly support the boat launch initiative as well as the trail maintenence outlay.

My concern would be why we can't find a way to have volunteer work used to maintain city trail systems. I'm sure locals, welfare recipients, or people appointed to community work for bad behaviour could be utilized for this kind of work if the city allowed for this kind of organization.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 13 2006 7:46 AM

I don't remember it snowing last year? Where'd they find the snow? Wonder why that budget went up a cool million this winter? Did the City need it to hire a consultant with the extra million to study the problem? At this rate imagine how big the snow budget will be when the temperature is above freezing all winter!

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 13 2006 7:54 AM

Chardermando - We can't find a way to have volunteer work used to maintain city trail systems, because they don't have anytime to waste other than worrying about how to pay the city taxes.
Locals, welfare recipients, or people appointed to community work for bad behaviour are paid enugh to do this kind of work, but won't work. Ruins their imagine.

Besides the City Workers Union would lose their strangle hold on us if they let that pass.

Posted by: Chadermando on February 13 2006 8:20 AM

Sled dude your probably right.

Posted by: camoose on February 13 2006 3:41 PM

Wow, $89,000 for an air quality cop. Could save a lot of money and clean up the air shed if we could do away with the fertilizer and hot air coming from city hall

Posted by: owl on February 14 2006 1:42 AM

"There is some good news, snow removal costs for last year were in under budget."

They save because we get mediocre service. Our residential street, as well as others in this area in the bowl, are icy as hell. The city never cleaned up after the last few centimetres of snow, it warmed up, and then froze for the last week almost.

Intially we missed the driveway even though going very slow. It is still dangerous to go for a walk around here so I simply do not do that. the poor pooch is wondering why the old man is so lazy all of the sudden ... even the school kids are walking more slowly and carefully. Service is intermittent at best.

This city might exist in a winter climate, but it is not one which tackles that fact as well as other urban centres I have lived in in Canada.