THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s city council has passed the 2022 municipal budget, making remarkably few major changes from the draft document put forward by administration.
Councillors approved a tax levy increase of 2.36 per cent after growth (2.42 per cent before growth) at the last of four review sessions Tuesday, slightly above a target of 2.25 per cent they had set last year.
That led Couns. Rebecca Johnson and Peng You to cast symbolic votes of opposition.
You said he couldn't support an increase above the 2.25 per cent target, while Johnson said she objected to anything above 2 per cent, but didn't believe she could find support for measures to reach that goal (a doubling of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board budget and staffing expansions were among her objections).
Other councillors had called the 2.25 per cent target artificially low, warning it was a random figure that could strain the city's ability to deliver core services.
The increase council eventually settled on is just slightly above the city's ten-year average, despite nearly non-existent growth, and had drawn measured praise from the local chamber of commerce for coming in below inflation, though it's crept up slightly, from an initial 2.29 per cent before growth, since then.
The spending plan will see significant staffing expansions to Superior North EMS, bylaw enforcement, and long-term care, with most supported by new provincial dollars.
All other councillors voted to pass the budget, with the exception of Coun. Brian McKinnon, who was absent. The decision still awaits ratification at a Feb. 7 council meeting, when councillors will have one final opportunity to propose any changes.
Those have been few and far between as councillors largely tinkered at the edges of the document over the past four weeks.
The most significant modification came Tuesday as councillors approved a request from the Thunder Bay Police Services Board to provide $2.4 million for work on a proposed new headquarters, rather than the full estimated cost of $56 million the board initially asked for.
The board downgraded its request last week, saying it needed to first focus on an internal crisis that has seen Ontario’s Solicitor General call for an investigation, and the deputy chief suspended pending a separate investigation.
Councillors said it was clear the current facility is badly inadequate, many referencing tours they had taken in recent weeks.
“If people from the community had the opportunity to explore it like we did, I think they’d be embarrassed," said Neebing Coun. Cody Fraser. "I think they’d be upset.”
Several, however, expressed serious reservations about a commitment that, with debt payments, is expected to cost the city $84 million over the course of 25 years.
Johnson and Coun. Mark Bentz argued the project is also widely opposed by the public, pointing to feedback gathered by the city on the 2022 budget.
“They want less investment in police services, that’s coming across loud and clear," she said. "I think the community needs to know we have heard them. I don’t know if councillors have read all of those surveys. But that is there, and the community is saying no.”
A handful of other proposals for new spending were brought forward, but mostly rejected, Tuesday.
Mayor Bill Mauro's push for safety netting at city hockey arenas, to the tune of $284,000, was roundly defeated, and a call from Coun. Brian Hamilton to boost public art funding with a one-time contribution of $50,000, met a similar fate.
Council gave the go-ahead, however, to an amendment from Coun. Albert Aiello to add $75,000 to chip seal gravel roads in outlying areas.
The city is set to absorb a projected $7 million impact from COVID-19 in 2022, without any commitments so far from the provincial and federal governments to backstop municipal losses, as they did in the last two years. Without that help, the city plans to empty more than half of its stabilization reserve fund, keeping pandemic costs from impacting tax rates..
A meeting planned for Feb. 3 to hear public feedback on the budget before final ratification has been cancelled, after no submissions were received, city clerk Krista Power reported Tuesday. Written submissions will still be accepted until Feb. 4 at noon and shared with councillors, while a survey remains available at the city's website through Feb. 3.
The pre-budget deputation meeting had also seen lower participation than in previous years.
