City council ratifies 2011 municipal budget

The city’s 2011 budget has been approved.

Thunder Bay City Council ratified the budget, with an average 1.27 per cent increase in property tax, Monday night during a council meeting at city hall. Budget chair Coun. Mark Bentz said he thinks the budget is fair and reasonable to the tax payer, while still addressing the city’s needs.

"We hope we’ve struck that balance," Bentz said.

The $2 million enhanced infrastructure renewal program is the start of a city commitment to start chipping away at the $15 million infrastructure deficit.

"Citizens should be very happy that we’re heading down that road. Many communities aren’t," he said.

And although the budget also includes a 14.3 per cent increase for water, Bentz said the city was obligated to do that because of provincial legislation.

"Without these water increases, your water system is not sustainable," he said.
Some of the city’s water infrastructure is over 70 years old. The city has to play catch-up by passing on the cost of renewing that infrastructure to the user, he added.

"For decades governments have been pretending that this infrastructure gap is not a real problem," he said.

Also Monday, council heard from Lakehead University Student Union president Michael Snoddon. Snodden wants the city to install a pedestrian signal and left turn traffic light on Oliver Road near the entrance to Thunder Bay Health Sciences Centre and The LU Fieldhouse.

Snodden said with 500 students using the hospital for placement and 1200 residence students using the hospital for personal reasons, the intersection is a high-traffic area for pedestrians.

The city will be looking into the idea in the spring.