THUNDER BAY -- Administration could cut another per cent spending from its proposed 2017 budget but CAO Norm Gale won't promise council a leaner city without service cuts.
Gale made the comments at a long term financial overview meeting in response to a question from Budget Committee chairman and Coun. Frank Pullia as to whether the proposed 3.53 per cent levy increase (3.07 including growth) could be reduced to two per cent.
"Without making any qualifying comment about the impact on services, it's absolutely doable to find another one per cent. Just direct us to do it and we'll do it. Council may not find that palatable," Gale said.
"I'd like to remind council we've just found $2.8 million in operating cuts. That was an extraordinarily difficult task by the executive leadership team here at the corporation. We spent months working on that."
Council accepted a 4.4 per cent levy increase as a starting point for the 2017 budget in September. Reducing the levy one per cent further would shave off another $1.8 million.
A number of councilors praised administration's efforts to cut spending. Mayor Keith Hobbs praised council's ability to hold budget levy increases low in four of the last six years while the city has contended with floods, snowstorms and "right out of control" homicide rates.
"I think we've done very well and I'm really sick and tired of getting brutalized at budget time and after budget time by this city," said Mayor Keith Hobbs.
"I think this last two terms of council have done an admirable job -- so there. Anyone who doesn't think so can kiss my grits."
Gale called 2017 a "reset budget," focusing on stabilizing departments with "chronic negative variances," including $2.3 million in increases to insurance, legal fees and golf to as well as $1.1 million more for the Thunder Bay Police Service.
With the exception of 2015 when supplemental tax income balanced the budget, Gale said the municipality has been running annual deficits since 2013 when it went $8.2-million into the red. The annual infrastructure deficit has grown to $27 million.
"This is a reset budget," Gale said. "You could say we're recovering from these external factors."
Looking to the future, administration estimates the tax levy will increase 3.8 per cent per year until 2022. Assuming $1.5 million in annual growth, that could be reinterpreted as an increased cost for existing taxpayers of three per cent per year.
Despite administration claiming Thunder Bay falls in the middle of the pack when it comes to taxation among municipalities with populations over 100,000, McIntyre Coun. Trevor Giertuga suggested staff concentrate efforts on doing the best job it can with the budget it's crafting this year.
"I don't necessarily agree with us spending all this time trying to justify it. That's just my opinion," Giertuga said. "I also don't like how we crystal ball for the next five years what taxes are going to be. It's based on $1.5 million in (annual) growth. It's based on speculation at this point."
The budget process will continue with public deputations at city hall on Tuesday.
