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Chamber of Commerce continues to call for city to contain spending after latest budget

THUNDER BAY -- Another city budget season has left some members of the local chamber of commerce concerned and frustrated.
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Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson (Jamie Smith, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Another city budget season has left some members of the local chamber of commerce concerned and frustrated.

But Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said if the city's next step is an external core service review, it's willing to help in an effort to curb unsustainable spending. City council ratified its budget with a 3.83 per cent tax levy increase Monday night.

Businesses have been saying for several years now that it cannot continue to face rising costs if the city expects commerce in Thunder Bay to grow.

The three per cent increase to water rates combined with a sewer surcharge bump from 75 to 90 per cent alone will cost one major manufacturer an extra $35,000 a year Robinson said.

"There is concern. There is frustration I'm hearing from a lot of our members," Robinson said. 

The recent municipal election compressed the time council had to spend on budget issues, coupled with a tough budget year Robinson said. Still, the budget process didn't address the chamber's main concern, that the city is increasing its spending at an unsustainable level.

"Really they didn't cut anything. They deferred everything, so we're going to have a lot of the same challenges next year," she said.

A service review needs to find its way into the city's strategic plan and it needs to be completed before next year's budget Robinson said. Costs and efficiencies need to be an ongoing discussion at the council table, not just for four weeks during budget talks.

"It needs to be an almost weekly discussion," she said. "It needs to be a major part of the strategetic planning for the next four years."

Robinson said the chamber is looking to help the city in any way it can with the core review process.





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