City of Sault Ste. Marie budget deliberations begin in earnest on Monday, with all the fiscal wheeling and dealing live-streamed on SooToday starting at 5 p.m.
Even before the chin-wagging starts, we have some good news for you: the 3.74 per cent property tax hike proposed in the preliminary budget announced last month has already been reduced to 3.52 per cent.
Tom Vair, the city's chief administrative officer, says the following items have been accounted for since the preliminary budget was tabled:
- Algoma Public Health – a budget impact of $216,192 addition to the levy. City staff had anticipated a two per cent increase using their inflationary factor. The approved health unit budget reflected a nine per cent increase
- District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (Social Services) – budget impact of $6,541 reduction from the levy. The city allocation was slightly lower than the two per cent anticipated
- Sault Ste. Marie Police Services – a $520,000 reduction from the levy. This is the sum of their additional funding sources and the reduced budget request approved by the police services board on Dec. 2.
"These changes total a net impact of $310,349, relieving pressure on the tax levy and decreasing the impact to 3.52 per cent as a starting point for deliberations," Vair says in a report prepared for Monday's city council meeting.
"The reductions from Police Services and Social Services are appreciated and assist in reducing the preliminary budget increase," Vair says.
Some of the opening gambits to be deployed on Monday are already known.
CAO Vair will recommend:
- addition of automated monetary penalties supporting automated speed enforcement at a cost of $0
- $200,000 for downtown security
- addition of a $100,000 cultural industries co-ordinator to five other new positions announced last month in the preliminary budget
Meanwhile, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker is expected to introduce these additions to the budget:
- resolved that council direct the reduction of the increase to capital reserves from $419,170 down to $69,170 for an operational savings of $350,000
- that the library's security and budgetary increase of $45,000 be added to the 2024 operational budget
- that council increase the cultural assistance program funding by $160,000 with $90,000 of the increase allocated to an operational increase as follows: $30,000 each for Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Art Gallery of Algoma and Sault Ste. Marie Museum
- that future annual increases requested by those three agencies be brought to and decided by the Cultural Vitality Committee
- that the staff request for $360,000 annually to be used toward park upgrades be funded in the amount of $120,000 as an addition to the operational budget, with the balance subject to the amount available to be drawn from the legislated 60 per cent use of the park subdivider reserve
- that council direct the sum of $50,000 to be added to the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee operational budget to support efforts to improve the primary care shortage locally
- that council direct the sum of $50,000 be added to the community development fund for the social equity and local priorities stream and that staff review and recommend any changes necessary to the criteria for this stream to best meet the community’s needs going forward