As Thunder Bay council passes this year's budget, the city braces for more cuts later this year

Thunder Bay's new council has survived its first budget season, approving a 4.4 per cent tax levy increase.

But more tough decisions lay ahead withcouncillorsdirecting city staff to find more than $2 million in cuts later this year in an attempt to prevent a similar tax hike in 2024.

City councillorsapproved the budget on Monday. Administration was originally recommending a 5.6 per cent increase to the tax levy, after growth. Council reduced that to 4.4 per cent after growth duringa series of meetings over the last month.

A big part of the savings came from taking $1 million from the vested property rehabilitation reserve fund, though council voted for staff to report back with finding that same amount in savings to balance it out.

Altogether, administration has been tasked with finding $2.2 million in cuts before next year.

It brings to a close an at-times contentious few weeks of budget deliberations, which saw councillors and administration spar over cuts to service or taxes.

"These have been the most dramatic and effective budget meetings I've ever been part of," said Coun. Mark Bentz, who chaired the budget deliberations.

Councillors worked to strike a balance between maintaining essential services while keeping taxes manageable. Decisions were further complicated by the learning curve that comes with a new term of council, alongside ongoing challenges with inflation, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As 2022was an election year, councillors didn't have the chance to give staff direction about the budget beforehand.

Bentz said this budget spurred the city to look at deeper, structural changes.

"It's something that probably has been needed for a while, for those of us that want more fiscal constraint in the budget and more controlled spending," he said. "It's an opportunity really for administration to look for wide-scale savings."

Police board reins back budget ask

The amount the city spends on policing was a key point of contention during the ongoing deliberations.

Acting police Chief Dan Taddeo said the police service needs more money as the city deals with its reputation as the "murder capital of Canada."

The Thunder Bay Police Service budget passed without any changes, seeing a 7.2 per cent, or $3.5 million, increase.

Taddeo cited high severe crime rates, domestic violence, overdoses and homicides as reasons why policerequiremore resources. This includes about 20 full-time equivalent additions to its staffat a cost of $1 million.

Police reported two homicides in the first month of 2023.

Council is seeking support from upper levels of government to ease police spending. But to Bentz, the costs will only keep going up if underlying problems are not addressed.

"If we want to prevent crime, we're going to have to fund upstream," he said. "It's not politically popular because there is no instant gratification to it. It takes a while for those funds to actually show value, and that's why often you don't see them being made."

Meanwhile, the Thunder Bay Police Services Board had originally sought a 68.2 per cent increase in its budget, which included increases to board member pay.

Initially, the board wanted to raise members' honoraria from $3,000 to $10,000 and give the chair $35,000 in compensation. Secretary John Hannam later issued a memorandum to council saying the board was prepared to reduce its initial ask of $75,000 for personnel services by $25,000.

However, council voted to further reduce this by $44,000,bringing the total for honorariums to $31,000. Board members will decide how to allocate that money among themselves.

'Death by a thousand cuts'

Some last-minute motions were passed before the budget was ratified, like closing public pools at the Canada Games Complex, Volunteer Pool and Churchill Poolan hour earlier on weekends saving the city roughly $28,000 and deferring the first annual leaf of 2023 and yard waste pickup to next year, netting an extra $80,000.

Council also voted to extend the Jumbo Gardens Community Centre's lease until the end of December, giving user groups more time to plan before its permanent closure.

While the items on the table Monday night were relatively small, Coun. Andrew Foulds remarked on how every reduction adds up to "death by a thousand cuts."

"We're going to just become a city of emergency services and roads," said Foulds.

He said he was saddened that savings came from cutting community services, one of the few areas council has control over.

"If we're really worried about police costs and crime and community wellness, then what do we have to do? And in my view, it's [that] we need to invest in programs that invest in people and services," he said.

He did express enthusiasm over the upcoming Canada Games Complex renewal recreation being a passion of his and said long-term investments in that project will yield significant cost savings in utilities.

Another silver lining in the books was the long-awaited Vickers Carrick Bridge project.

Coun. Brian Hamilton had put a motion forward to defer the design costs for the bridge until 2024and construction until 2025.

But he was met with opposition, particularly from Coun. Shelby Ch'ng, who lamented about how many times the project has been deferred already.

The bridge has been identified as the preferred location for a river crossing by the cycling community. While it hasreceived support in theory from staff and council, a series of snags have prevented it from getting off the ground for the past eight years.

Cycling advocate Ken Shields was the lone observer in the gallery when council voted to keep the bridge in this year's budget. While this doesn't necessarily mean the project will go ahead, he said it's still a good sign.

'This is where courage comes in'

For Mayor Ken Boshcoff, preparations for the 2024 budget start now.

When asked about potential barriers to finding $2 million in additional cuts, he said that isn't a goalit's an expectation.

"This is where courage comes in, behind the intelligence of making these decisions," said Boshcoff. "There's a high expectation from the public to hold the line."

Earlier in the budget process, he said a tax levy above threeper cent "will really do our city a lot of harm."

A three per cent levy was also the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce's target.

Chamber president Charla Robinson said businesses were hoping for more relief, since challenges remain with inflation, interest rates, labour shortages and supply chain disruptions.

"Hopefully, as we go through the year, we can see some changes to operations and structures within the city so that by next year's budget, we're not in the same place," she said.

When asked what the council's role is in helping the public handle these costs, Boshcoff said it's time for vigilance.

"The making of opportunities to find savings is now, 365 days a year," he said.