Posted Dec 4, 2007, 11:21 AM
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Moncton city council tackles 2008 municipal budget
Rising assessments mean tax bills will likely go up again next year
By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007
Appeared on page A7
Council and the public at large got their first look at the proposed 2008 operating, utility and capital works budgets for the city of Moncton at last night's regular council meeting.
The budgets as presented would mean the average Moncton homeowner with an average $130,000 home will pay $115 more in property tax and $40 more for water and sewerage in 2008.
The budgets will now be debated publicly on December 12 and 13, at different times than previously publicized.
The budget process will begin at 9 a.m. at Moncton City Hall on Wednesday December 12 as previously announced, but the second day's deliberations on Thursday, December 13 will run from 3 p.m, to 9 p.m. in an effort to allow members of the public a better chance to attend.
Council tried to change both sessions to evening meetings at the suggestion of Ward 3 councillors Brian Hicks and Steve Mitton, but conflicts with other important city business meant council had to compromise.
City of Moncton chief financial officer John Martin, presenting his first budgets to council, warned council that the city is "facing a major potential crisis if we do not invest in more capital maintenance and develop our reserves to permit us to deal with immediate requirements." His budget proposes creation of a capital maintenance reserve.
Martin also reminded council of the looming cost of seeing so many of the baby boomers employed by the city retiring, pointing out there is just $850,000 in retirement liability funding when that will need to grow by 10 times that amount in the next handful of years.
Some sense of the decisions council will have to make in the next week came out of the presentation. To merely provide the same level of service as last year, would cost 4.8 per cent more because of inflation and other factors (including, ironically enough, the $87,757 more the city will have to pay in tax on its own properties, thanks to rising assessments in Moncton).
To try to roll back the tax rate to offset increasing assessments, would cost roughly half a million dollars for every cent shaved off the rate. While a number of citizens have suggested such a measure, only two members of the public braved last night's weather to see budget discussions firsthand.
To drop the tax rate enough to nullify this year's assessment increases would require trimming $4 million from the budget.
On the other hand, the average household will see a $9.50 per month increase with the budget as it stands," councillor-at-large Pierre Boudreau said.
Boudreau, the deputy chairman of the city's finance committee argued that was a reasonable increase to keep the city on the move. He pointed with pride to the fact that since 1980, Moncton has seen the smallest tax increases among the municipalities of Dieppe, Riverview, Fredericton and Saint John. However, Moncton's tax rate is second only to Saint John's.
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Dieppe city council grapples with budget demands
Council vows to do everything it can to hold the line on taxes
By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007
Appeared on page A6
There's no talk of a property tax increase in Dieppe.
In fact, during the first meeting last night of council's debate of its 2008 operating and capital budgets, the only talk was of holding the line on taxes -- or reducing them.
Nobody disagreed with the notion of holding taxes at the present level, but not everyone was in favour of a tax decrease of one cent per $100 of assessment, as proposed by Ward 3 Councillor Paul Belliveau.
Belliveau calculated that a one-cent decrease would shave $171,000 off the city's revenues and offer taxpayers a little relief.
Coun.-at-Large Charles Cormier, however, suggested holding the line on taxes rather than decreasing them, so that Dieppe can invest in measures to spur the city's ongoing growth -- the fastest of any N.B. city -- and pay down the city's debt.
Fellow Coun.-at-Large Jean Gaudet noted that a decrease in the tax rate would badly affect city finances for years to come. He recalled how the city decreased taxes when Champlain Place was built, thanks to the big mall's injection of taxes into city coffers. To this day, some projects that were on the city's wish list back then have yet to be completed due to lack of money.
No one spoke in favour of increasing taxes, which brings its own challenges. With every city department clamouring for more money, some tough choices will have to be made.
As Mayor Achille Maillet put it several times last night, "we have our needs, and we have our wants."
Another budget meeting is slated for tonight at 5 p.m. though today's snowstorm could postpone it. Council will meet again tomorrow at 5 p.m., if necessary, in order to finalize the budget.
Tonight's session will see a line-by-line examination of each department's proposed expenditures during and after which councillors will begin the task of paring items from the lists that council deems the city can't afford right now.
Two major capital projects are also up for discussion: a new main waterline into Dieppe from the area of Harrisville Boulevard in Moncton and the renewal of Paul Street. The meetings are open to the public.
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. Lucky I got up an hour early to get in line though, it sold in under 20 minutes. Anyone here going to one of the shows?
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