With Christmas right around the corner, North Bay city council appears to be getting a present as they reach the end of their budget process.
This gift, in the form of an additional $1.5 million in Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF), is being applied by members of council to reduce an increase in the 2018 tax levy to below one percent—should the Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs) remain at least status quo in their increases, which is being requested by council to be no more than two percent.
“The city of North Bay is at zero if you look at it, we’re pretty well in the negative,” Deputy Mayor Sheldon Forgette said. “Our real pressure comes from our service partners, the police, library, the Capitol Centre, DNSSAB and those individual agencies have their own pressures as well but there is definitely pressure there affecting the city’s budget for sure.”
These pressures reflect in the budget of some of the ABCs, like the Capitol Centre, asking for a 10 per cent increase and the police services budget at an 8.2 per cent increase. Around the budget table, many members of the committee were not pleased with the ABCs coming back with much more than the requested two per cent and lower that the city had asked going into the budget.
“There is no point in asking them to come back to us with two per cent because nobody listens,” Coun. Derek Shogren said. “Sending an 8.2 per cent increase to council knowing the challenges in the community isn’t respectful.”
Members around the table agreed to send the requests back to the ABCs and ask them to return with a two per cent or less increase.
Currently, assuming DNSSAB comes in two per cent—considering they have yet to complete their own budget—the city tax levy increase sits at 4.43 per cent, but should the Capitol Centre and the police services come back under two per cent, the levy drops to 0.82% increase for 2018.
“I’m happy with .82,” Forgette said. “There are certain areas that are very lean that could use more funding like snow removal, but there has to be a will around the table to reflect that. It’s a passable budget, we’re keeping property taxes affordable for people and if you look at our capital budget we’ve started the groundwork for a splash pad so we’re improving the community too.”
