Windsor council trims operating budget tax increase to 0.9%

Property taxes in Windsor are going up, but just by 0.9 per cent.

Windsor city council sat all afternoon and most of the evening Monday, but in the end, managed to pass the 2018 operating budget with less than half of the increase proposed at the beginning of the meeting.

"I would call this in many ways a status quo budget," said Mayor DrewDilkens.

Cityadministration started the daylooking at a 2.1 per cent tax increase, down from the 2.6 per centincrease originally proposed to cover the$800 million operating budget and $643 million capital budget.

Dilkenssaid city staff did their best to keep the increase low, but bringing thebudget down to a zero per cent increase would have been impossible without massive cuts.

"If you went through the budget document and saw the cuts that were proposed to get to zero you'd have to pull fire trucks out of service, you'd have to let go of all your part-time students who take care of the parks, you'd be closing outdoors pools," Dilkens explained. "Really types of things I don't think anyone here was interested in getting into."

Residents make budget requests

Monday's meeting was open to the public and included presentations from about 29 stakeholders.

Many made requestsfor the sharpsdisposal program, supporting administration'sproposed $65,000 plan to operate 10 disposal bins across the city.

"The numbers of calls regarding calls in pickups has in fact increased drastically," said Melissa Carey, who represented Ford City Residents in Action in Ward 5. "Unfortunately, addicts are going to use regardless, so we believe we must be proactive and accommodating to these facts."

There also were several requests to put money into the alley enhancement program, with some residents comingforward to speak about unkept and sometimes unsafe alleys in their ward.

"I'd like to stress it isn't fair for wards with alleys to have to pay for this maintenance using ward funds, as other wards do not have to spend their money on basic infrastructure maintenance," saidSarah Cipkar of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative. "It can be reserved for more exciting projects that enlighten the community in different ways."

Other residents spoke about the general need to keep properties in the city clean.

"I suggest a fine, a big one, a stiff one on top of the charge for the clean up. Littering is against the law and that's exactly what this is," said Ward 2 residentCaroline Taylor, who referencedthe many rental properties and lack of ownership as obstacles to keeping yards tidy."I don't see anyone here from the suburbs complaining about their dirty neighbourhoods. It's all in the core. Let's clean up the core, it's where our tourists like to go."

Where Windsor will save

City administration came up with a number of ways to save money.

Most notably, they've rebuffed requests from Windsor Fire and Rescue Services to hire twofire prevention officers, saving $315,291 and adeputy fire chief,saving another$197,540.

Other cuts to the service include limits to programs and services such as theremoval of three fire trucks and the staff who operatethem.

Council also rejected adding more staff at the downtown library and reduced the number of students and part-time staff working in Windsor parks.

Council will continue budget deliberations Tuesday.