EDITORIAL: City seeks ways to cut

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There’s no doubt the city needs to find ways to trim the fat.

City manager’s core business review is a great start, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough, fast enough.

Yes, it recommends city council vote to close Municipal Golf Course, saving taxpayers a whopping $100,000 a year – which works out to about $1.14 a household.

Closing all three would up that total past the $6.25 mark. The Centennial Botanical Conservatory might save another $8.
Those aren’t the type of savings taxpayers are looking for.

But city officials need to take a long, hard look at every service they offer, from winter sidewalk clearing to the money-draining Canada Games Complex to the Community Auditorium to the number of ice rinks it maintains.

One could make the same argument some councillors are using to defend closing or selling golf courses that the Complex competes against private-sector gyms.

There are also plenty of pools in the city, including one at Lakehead University that could house the accessible lift and programs for the physically challenged.

At some point in time the city is going to have to look at staffing levels from within. Salaries make up the bulk of the city budget and if the city is serious about saving money, cuts are necessary.

Dribs and drabs are about optics, no more, no less.