The mayor’s plan for a zero per cent budget was voted down during a budget meeting Wednesday.
Keith Hobbs called for an amendment that would have seen $1.5 million taken out of the tax rate stabilization reserve fund for dredging on the McIntyre River. An additional amendment would have taken $500,000 out of Renew Thunder Bay to pay for utility connections on Junot Avenue.
The amendments, if approved, would have eliminated the proposed 1.27 per cent tax increase for 2011. Hobbs said he has been getting calls from people across the city saying they can no longer afford to pay for services such as hydro and water along with property taxes. One man in his office Tuesday told Hobbs he would have to sell his home if the proposed rates go through.
"It’s not good budgeting (to take from reserves) I realize this but I also don’t want to see people lose their homes," Hobbs said.
But Coun. Iain Angus said while Hobbs might have campaigned on a zero per cent budget, the veteran councillor didn’t. Angus said he has seen first hand what zero per cent budgets can do for the city and they always end up costing the city and it’s infrastructure more in the long run.
"We’ve seen that move before with zero per cent increases," said Angus. "And we ended up paying a very big price."
Angus said if people are worried about losing their homes, they can always apply for tax relief from the city.
Coun. Mark Bentz said he thought the proposed 1.27 per cent increase was responsible and well under inflation. And with a $15 million infrastructure deficit, including the worst roads in Ontario Bentz said, the city shouldn’t be dipping into reserves to cover a budget that’s under inflation.
"We’re not going to tackle it (infrastructure renewal) by promising zeros," said Bentz. ""We’ve deferred so much we’re not going to have zeros for a long long time."
The tax reserve fund currently sits at $3million the city finance department said. It’s recommended that a city keep at least 10 per cent of its annual budget in that reserve as a contingency plan.
Coun. Paul Pugh said the money was put there so that the city could get out of a bind. Spending that money to keep tax rates down would be a short-term solution Pugh said.
"We’re trying to make ourselves look good as a council today and not worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow," said Pugh.
But Hobbs said the amendments were about trying to help people in need in the community.
"This isn’t about looking good and I resent that remark. This is about helping people out", said Hobbs.
Council approved $25,000 Wednesday night for brushing along the "Black Path", a trail connecting Castle Green to County Park. The addition to the proposed 2011 budget would see vegetation on some parts of the path reduced to grass in an effort to make the trail, notorious for violence, safer. Parks manager Paul Fayrick said some issues around the path are out of the city’s control but clearing brush on corners and other parts of the path would help keep visible sight lines for people using the path.
"It will certainly make it easier to see and be seen" Fayrick said.
But some councillors accused the amendment of "cherry picking" for certain areas of the city’s trail system. Coun. Joe Virdiramo said there are areas of the trail system in his ward, such as the path behind Westgate High School, which also need the city’s attention.
"If we’re going to do trails let’s do them all," said Viridramo.
Because the path was brought to the attention of the city through a deputation, Coun. Ken Boshcoff said he worries that the public will get the wrong idea about how the city chooses what it should fund. He said council was doing a disservice to people in the city by funding a trail just because a person showed up to speak with city council.
"You can’t just do it for the people who show up you have to do it for the broad base," said Boshcoff.
A $60,000 reduction was made on the parks department’s Recreation and Parks Master Plan. The plan is to guide future progress in the city’s facilities, programs and services. $40,000 of the original budget for the plan remains.
