North Bay councillor Mike Anthony says he'd welcome help from the provincial government to curb spending in North Bay.
The government wants urban municipalities and school boards to cut spending.and has set aside $7.35 million so large urban municipalities and school boards can conduct line-by-line reviews of spending, with an eye to saving four cents for every dollar spent.
See: Got four cents? Sault MPP in Sudbury to push Tory's line-by-line review scheme
That appeals to Anthony.
He says citizens should not think he is advocating slash and burn tactics.
"I've always been one to find efficiencies and if a provincial government is going to supply us with some funds to try and find those efficiencies through attrition, retirement, better use of technology, rearranging departments to better meet changing needs, that's where I would want to find the four per cent, not in front line services."
In a news release, the government said, "In Ontario, over 90 per cent of provincial spending goes towards funding school boards, hospitals, municipalities, and other outside organizations. By providing resources through the Audit and Accountability Fund, the government is empowering school boards and municipalities to work towards the shared goal of returning the province to fiscal balance while making sure vital programs and services are maintained."
"I would love to see a full operational review if we could find long-term efficiencies while still maintaining services or other ways we could do something differently. Are there ways, when people retire that we could use technology to pick up some of what was being done? I never wanted to cut staff, just an operational review."
Council handed taxpayers a six per cent increase in 2019.
