By Shane O'Neill

City approves 1.5 per cent property tax increase in 2017

Nov 26, 2016 | 7:40 AM

It took two full days, but Prince Albert’s budget committee and city council have settled on a 1.5 per cent property tax increase in 2017.

The original 2017 budget, proposed by city staff, called for a 3.2 per cent property tax increase to fund various programs and maintain levels of service for residents.

Mayor Greg Dionne was pleased with the committee’s effort to responsibly find savings.

“What I’m pleased about, is that we got this 1.5 [per cent increase] without cutting services,” he said. “We’re still moving forward with our paving program, we again will have one of our biggest construction years, within the budget.”

Dionne campaigned on a promise to only raise property taxes by 1.9 per cent in 2017.

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After moving to withhold a decision on the Prince Albert Police Service budget for 2017, and their request for $1,177,550 in increased funding over 2016, council and city staff pored over every item on the budget to find savings.

In the end, the police budget was approved with no changes, maintaining their increase over last year. It will be funded by money from the 2016 surplus.

Dionne said the increase to the police budget will help the city address the concerns of residents.

“Well, every councillor and myself heard door-to-door that safety is the number one issue,” Dionne explained.

With the larger budget, police will add more officers and a dedicated vehicle for the Victim Services Unit.

First-term councillor Terra Lennox-Zepp echoed Mayor Dionne in the efforts of the committee to maintain service levels in 2017.

“I believe that our budget decisions reflected what we heard on the door step during this recent campaign,” she said after the meeting.

The savings found in the budget were mostly expenditures which could be put off for another year.

For example, requests to upgrade and replace lighting systems at the fire hall and the Municipal Services Centre were voted down, reducing spending by $130,000.

As well, $25,000 was saved by deciding against the replacement of the fire alarm system at the Prince Albert Golf and Country Club, while the rejection of security cameras at the Art Hauser Centre saved another $35,000.

City council will meet to approve the budget on Dec. 19.

shane.oneill@paNOW.com

On Twitter: @stroneill