Mayor Don Darling says the city faces massive challenges with the fiscal reality. Councillor David Merrithew, who chairs the city’s Finance Committee, agrees and warns budgets are tough.
The Finance Committee was told a 1.1 million dollar budget surplus is being forecast which Merrithew calls a small sliver of a 150 million dollar budget for the city. He’s concerned about a projected deficit of 250 thousand dollars with public transit but is willing to give the new leadership at the Transit Commission time to eliminate the deficit. The city also subsidises the City Market each year to the tune of half a million dollars a year.
The committee was also told the turnaround time for building permits has improved by 30 per cent with over a thousand permits being processed worth 89 million dollars in construction. 91 per cent of the construction has taken place in the primary development area. City Manager Jeff Trail says the Growth Committee will likely be seeking more funding for grants to spur development or refurbishment in the South-Central Peninsula.
The committee was also told water rates will rise by 72 dollars a year up to 14 hundred and 40 dollars annually by the time the clean drinking water project is finished.
