1.98% tax increase the starting point under Mayor Al McDonald's plan

Council got to see a long term budget plan as proposed by Mayor Al McDonald last night (Wednesday).

He says under his plan council would see a tax levy starting increase of 1.98%.

McDonald says this increases capital spending and reduces the debt by $10-million.

Overall there is still a lot to be decided within the individual committee budgets. The figures would represent the same level of service as last year without making any major additions or subtractions.

Budget Chief Sheldon Forgette says he likes the looks of the plan.

He says specifically this could even give them some room to add. He says he would personally like to see a Communications Officer or an Events and Tourism Officer.

The 1.98 % tax levy increase is just a starting point for council discussions, and the individual committees will start presenting their budgets soon.

Chair of Community Services Mark King says it’s a good plan overall but there will still be major challenges within Community Services relating to transit, arenas and ball diamonds.

Chair of Engineering and Works Tanya Vrebosch was asked if she could see this giving council some leeway to add to the Winter Maintenance budget.

She says she doesn’t foresee any council finding extra ways to spend money, and she says her main target is to make sure they don’t budget to tightly and there is money available for winter maintenance.