City council huddled together after approving the 2023 budget and agreed that this is a “needs budget and not a wants budget" because everything in the budget is necessary to fix buildings and operate the city, the mayor says.
Coun. Dawn Luhning was opposed.
From the pocket, most taxpayers will pay an extra $16.15 a month or $193.76 for the year based on what council approved in the budget.
“This isn’t a budget where we’re getting a bunch of fancy stuff done. This is bare bones. This is fixing the facilities (and) making sure they run properly — in my opinion,” Mayor Clive Tolley said during a media scrum afterward.
Tolley acknowledged that everyone would have trouble with the increases, especially those struggling from month to month. He noted that council struggled to approve the budget because they know how difficult it is to pass on tax increases to residents.
“But this would be the same as if your house has got shingles that are deteriorating and you don’t fix it. Next year, you got to fix the shingles plus the wood that’s rotten underneath the shingles because the water got through,” he continued. “That’s the kind of mentality we have; we believe we had to do these things to keep our city in good shape.”
Council also voted 6-1 to approve a parks and recreation infrastructure levy of $65 per taxable property and on every dwelling unit in a multi-unit building, with Luhning opposed.
This levy — to support renewing all recreation venues and the new outdoor pool — will generate $1,081,279, which should address a shortfall in the general capital reserve of the capital budget. It also equals an extra $5.42 per month on bills.
Tolley said he was comfortable imposing that levy because the city must maintain its buildings and venues. Many of the projects proposed next year focus on issues such as repairing roofs and installing boilers.
One positive, the mayor said, is that recycling costs will decrease because the city signed a new contract that reduces taxes by 0.74 per cent, or $0.98 per month or $11.81 per year. That fee will likely decrease the levy.
“I think it’s acceptable,” he added.
Council asked city administration and the Moose Jaw Police Service to review their respective budgets to find savings since members wanted to reduce the original 4.75-per-cent tax hike by one percentage point.
City administration provided a list of items that could be cut from the budget, but council approved only four recommendations and kept the rest since members realized eliminating many would affect services.
Meanwhile, council approved the amended police budget increase request of 3.06 per cent, down from the original 5.49 per cent. The new request equals a property tax hike of 1.02 per cent.
“Most of those suggestions (from city administration) weren’t palatable to anybody on council … ,” Tolley said.
When it was pointed out that residents face a total tax hike of 14.89 per cent when combining the municipal tax hike, the police request, infrastructure levy, and waterworks and sanitary sewer increases, the mayor acknowledged that it would be difficult for many people to handle.
“Have you tried to buy lettuce lately? The cost of living is going up way faster than our average salaries,” he said. “And that’s meant some really tough decisions for people. I certainly empathize with our citizens.
Living paycheque to paycheque is tough, especially when there’s no extra money for purchases, Tolley continued. It will be tough for families to celebrate this Christmas while facing expensive bills.
It’s tough (but) tough times don’t last; tough people do,” he stated.
“Hopefully, the people of Moose Jaw will be able to get through this … . But we in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, are still in a better place than most people in the world. And we made some steps tonight to make sure we keep our city in good shape.”
