Open up your wallets, Winnipeggers, property taxes are going up by 3.87 per cent to pay for those potholes.
The City of Winnipeg?s capital and operating budgets were tabled together, for the first time, during a quick executive policy committee meeting at city hall on Wednesday.
Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona), chair of the finance committee, said one per cent of the tax increase will be dedicated solely to ?crucial neighbourhood infrastructure? renewal. Called the Local Street Renewal Reserve, this new fund will increase the budget for streets by 66 per cent, to $35.86 million from $21.65 million.
The other 2.87 per cent deals with the higher costs associated with the operating budget.
For the owner of an average home assessed at $233,800, this means another $57 on their tax bill: $42 towards essential services such as police, fire and paramedics, and $15 for road repairs.
?Our goal in terms of setting up the Local Street Renewal Reserve is to have a reserve where we can continually increase the level of funding because we know the local street infrastructure deficit is huge ? and growing,? said Wyatt.
?If we get funding through other levels of government, then hopefully that would help keep that cost down.?
Mayor Sam Katz said this is a budget that balances the need to spend taxpayers? dollars wisely with the need for the City of Winnipeg to invest in its infrastructure.
However, Coun. Paula Havixbeck (Charleswood-Tuxedo) criticized the 1 per cent for local streets and argued there was no need for certain expenditures, such as a $40,000 increase to the councillors? representation allowance.
?This one per cent would go to local streets and in my ward, I have Corydon, Roblin, Kenaston, I have all kinds of problems with the quality of the road, let alone the size of the road,? she said.
?So to put money into a local streets improvement, while nice, may not be the priority in Charleswood-Tuxedo.?
Mike Davidson, president of CUPE Local 500, which represents City workers, said he?s happy to see money go towards infrastructure but will wait to see if the projects are P3, or public private partnerships, which the union is wary of.
?We?ve had 14 years of property tax freezes so it should be no surprise that we?ve got to keep pace with inflation,? he added.
?We?re paying for that 14 years of no property tax increase, we?ve run a big (infrastructure) deficit and now we?re trying to play catch-up.?
Homeowners had 14 years of a property tax freeze before a hike of 3.5 per cent in 2012.
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Some other highlights:
? Overall $31.3 million operating budget increase to police ($22.4 million) and fire paramedic ($8.9 million) services; public safety now makes up 44% of the tax supported Operating Budget. This means one new ambulance, 12 more paramedic staff and 10 dispatchers
? 4.3 per cent operating budget increase to Winnipeg Transit
? Continued commitment to capital improvement of Assiniboine Park through a total of $66.2 million in the capital budget and forecast over the next six years, an $11.9 million operating grant in 2013, as well as a loan guarantee for $17 million for the Journey to Churchill project
? $1.9 million City contribution to a proposed $3.8 million enhanced management program for Dutch Elm Disease, subject to 50/50 cost-sharing with the Province, to protect our city?s beautiful Elm canopies
? $250,000 per year increase for continued phase-in of a one-in-ten-year tree pruning program
? a cut to some grants for non-profit groups, including the United Way and several museums, saving about $350,000
? An increase in all ward allowances by $40,000 to $117,000
? $7 million in set aside for waterparks to be split amongst community centres
Source: http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/501883/winnipeg-property-taxes-to-go-up-2-87-per-cent/
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