Council Votes To Re-Open Operating Budget To Assist All Property Owners
By Robert Thomas
It is something the majority of Council were patting themselves on the back for just four months ago - the Budget completed before Christmas with a gift of a 2.3 percent property tax increase and a $30 infrastructure levy for property owners.
But the mean spirited Grinch called Covid - 19 bumped off Santa and they are almost right back to where they started looking for diamonds in a now much much smaller lump of coal.
At Monday evening's sometimes technically glitchy hybrid meeting - with the media barred physical access - Council decided unanimously to re-open the 2020 Budgets looking for savings as Covid - 19 has hit the City's services as well as cashflow like a tsunami.
It all came to pass on a motion made by Councillor Brian Swanson during discussion surrounding the effects of COVID - 19 and what further measures the City could take to help out its residents to ride out the economic impact of the pandemic.
Measures which will see no penalties or interest applied to utility and property tax bills retroactive April 1st to September 30th.
SEE RELATED - Council Approves Further Measures
“I’m fully conscious when it comes to the three levels of government the municipal government has the least maneuvering position here. Unlike the federal government we don’t run a printing press and can run deficits that who knows when they will be paid…when you cut right down to it the ideas being put forward have relatively little monetary value for just about everybody,” Councillor Swanson said.
“One place I do think we do have some sort of control is our operating budget. If there was ever a year where we could show constraint I think one could argue this could be the year,” he said.
Councillor Swanson then made a motion for Council to reconvene Budget Committee with the purpose of a zero tax increase in the 2020 Operating Budget.
Budget Committee is part of a two step process where Council meets to go through the budget first in an informal manner and then can re-debate and finalizes the budget at a Council meeting.
During the initial 2020 Operating Budget finalized in December Administration set up a streamlined process of special Council meetings dispensing with Budget Committee altogether. It was something Councillor Swanson opposed at the time calling for a two tier process including Budget Committee.
“I think we, as a group of elected officials for the City of Moose Jaw, reconvene Budget Committee to look at what we can do…I think we could be looking at our Operating Budget and paring down the two percent plus tax increase,” he said.
Councillor Swanson said despite the actions being limited due to four months of the year having transpired that next year a more fuller effect of the measures could be realized.
Reducing taxes may not be a major help but Councillor Swanson said it is necessary.
“At least it shows some leadership.
“Executives and management in all types of situations have at least taken cuts in pay to show leadership. I would be putting forward as elected officials should be doing the same thing. Perhaps in the 20 percent range.”
He said making cuts in the Operating Budget would benefit both businesses and residential taxpayers alike.
“It is a material initiative that Moose Jaw City Hall is aware there is a great deal of hardship being experienced in the City if Moose Jaw. It just the business sector but the residential sector as well,” Councillor Swanson said.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie said he supported Councillor Swanson's motion because there will be long term effects of the Covid - 19 pandemic.
“In two years when we come to get our municipal sharing grant the fact that (during) this time period the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) is very low will also impact our budgets in the future. So we have to really come up with a plan that is somewhat stable,” Mayor Tolmie said.
The Municipal Sharing Grant is .75 of one percent of the PST collected by the Province. The grant is paid based upon the PST collected two years in the past.
Mayor Tolmie said Council needed to be careful not to just cut expenditures and taxes but end up neglecting infrastructure repair and replacement.
“What I don’t want is to repeat mistakes of the past where we are not able to do capital projects. And where we have been hindered in the past to tackle such things as cast iron (water main replacement). We always say we are 30 years behind.”
Mayor Tolmie said he supported re-opening the Operating Budget as well as the initiatives to not charge penalties and interest on outstanding utility and property taxes as they were “helping the businesses.”
Councillor Crystal Froese said she supported re-opening the Operating Budget but not a targeted decrease.
“To land on a zero percent decrease I am not sure if that should be our actual goal of opening the Budget. Obviously looking at all of the reductions and how these changes are going to impact the budget are very important. But I also think there is a recovery strategy for our community,” Councillor Froese said. “What phasing back in some of these programs are going to cost us if they have been completely shut down…whether we land on zero percent or not would not necessarily be my goal.”
Councillor Heather Eby said she supported re-opening the Budget but not tying it to get to a zero percent tax increase.
“I also would have the hesitation to beimg held to the zero percent like that happens if we get down to half a percent…I am willing to open it up and step up and reduce Council’s salary if that is what we get to,” Councillor Eby said. “I just don’t want to say we are going to zero when we haven’t looked at it yet.”
Finance director Brian Acker said there was no longer a Budget Committee but it went straight to Council plus the motion would additionally also need to be amended to reflect not being tied to a zero percent increase.
Councillor Dawn Luhning then made the amendment to “reconvene Budget Committee and remove the last part of landing on a zero budget.”
Councillor Luhning did not remove the portion for the Operating Budget to go to Budget Committee.
City manager Jim Puffalt expressed concerns about setting a zero percent target as the duration of the pandemic was an unknown.
“We don’t know how long this will last and we don’t know the impact on individual businesses. That could leave Council some room to work towards perhaos additional projects we never thought of that may provide assistance.”
Councillor Swanson said he opposed the amendment because it did not set a direction for Council to proceed on.
“If you don’t have a goal how do you know where you are going?…if we are going to have Budget Committee for the fun of having Budget Committee like we already did that,” Councillor Swanson said.
He said he doubted there were many businesses who are making cuts who would have much sympathy in finding $800,000 in a $45 million budget.
“Everybody has a property tax bill. Thus is one way can attempt to show everyone in the community we recognize there is s serious issue an no matter how tough it is we are going to do this response. That will be of benefit to everyone.”
Councillor Froese said she supported the amendment and there were seven opinions on Council and not just one when it came to what is happening in the community and what Council must do.
“To sort of indicate and on zero is we have good leadership in the community is not really fair. There are seven of us around this table and we all come from our own backgrounds and have connections within the community. I am certain almost all of us know the magnitude of the situation our citizens are feeling right now…we will do what we can but we will do it in a democratic fashion with seven of us at the table,” Councillor Froese said.
In a 6 - 1 vote with only Councillor Swanson opposed the motion to reconvene Budget Committee was amended to remove the zero percent tax increase goal.
In a second motion the initiative to re-open Budget Committee to review the Operating Budget was approved unanimously.