City Council continues to wrestle with their 5-year financial plan, looking for ways to trim their $30 million municipal budget.
City property owners are currently looking at a 5.9% tax increase, which is under fire as many in the community are affected by the Western Forest Products strike and downturn in the forest industry.
Mayor Sharie Minions says the strike, and peoples ability to pay weighs heavy on council’s minds.
“It’s not just the strike, we have a high poverty rate in our community so while we focus on the strike right now because it’s apparent, we have to look at the ability of people in our community to pay all the time, not just when there’s a strike on,” she said.
Minions says past councils have drawn from reserve accounts to bring down increases, but that is no longer an option, and pushing projects to 2021 only delays the inevitable costs.
Councillor Cindy Solda suggests the proposed $1.3 million uptown beautification process be split between this year and next, and the $1.5 Quay-to-Quay project be re-examined.
