Tag Archives: Budget Discussions

To freeze or not to freeze: that is the question

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Winnipeg politicians will soon decide whether to continue the property-tax freeze for a 15th consecutive year.

Council finance chairman Scott Fielding (St. James) said officials have started to review whether it’s possible to maintain the property-tax freeze for the 2012 operating budget, the blueprint that outlines spending on all city programs, including police, pest control and snow removal. Fielding said it will be a challenge to continue the long-standing tax freeze, but there is a possibility the city may be able to transfer a surplus from the 2011 budget in an attempt to stave off a hike.

The latest city financial report at the end of October forecast a $600,000 surplus by the end of 2011, due in part to additional permit revenue and savings from its summer street program and corporate expenses. Fielding said it’s possible the city picked up additional surplus money in November and December, though officials will not have the year-end total until late January.

“It is going to be challenging to maintain a property-tax freeze,” Fielding said.

Last year, Winnipeg’s operating budget increased by $30 million from the previous year due to the rising cost of police and emergency services. About 40 per cent of Winnipeg’s $847.4-million operating budget in 2011 was devoted to police and fire paramedic services.

The city hiked property frontage levies to cover the cost of increased program spending.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge) said only members of council’s executive policy committee are involved in operating budget discussions and she does not know how big of a funding gap the city faces. She said Winnipeg is coping with the cost of hiring additional police officers, pension benefits and paying down debt.

Gerbasi said cities such as Calgary have imposed modest property tax increases every year to generate revenue, while Winnipeg has frozen it for so long programs are “starving.” She said it’s possible the city is looking at raising fees — such as the frontage levy — like it did last year to avoid a tax increase. Gerbasi said she and other members of council worry executive policy committee may consider selling city-owned assets such as golf courses to generate revenue.

“A lot of us are very concerned about it,” Gerbasi said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze-that-is-the-question-136645423.html

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City talks taxes on new interactive website

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The mystery behind where Calgarians property tax dollars are going can now easily be solved with a new website launched by the city.

The Tax Talk website, launched on the eve of Calgary’s 2010 budget discussions, is intended to “help Calgarians understand where their tax dollars go,” according to a statement released by the city.

“It is an excellent tool for Calgarians to put their property tax in perspective,” said Gord Lowe, chairman of the city’s finance committee.

With a proposed increase of at least 4.8 per cent on property tax coming with council’s budget decisions, the Tax Talk site comes at the right time to answer basic questions Calgarians may have, Lowe said: “With the ability to measure their property tax against 14 other Canadian cities, Calgarians gain an important look at how they sit in relation to the rest of the country.”

The site enables Calgarians to enter the amount of property tax they pay and then breaks down that amount, dollar by dollar, into how much each citizen contributes to specific city services.

http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/local/article/370275–city-talks-taxes-on-new-interactive-website

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Councillors divided over property-tax freeze

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Mayor Sam Katz’s cabinet remains divided over the possibility of another tax freeze as 2009 operating budget discussions come down to the wire.

While the mayor is pushing for Winnipeg’s 12th straight freeze on property taxes, two members of city council’s executive policy committee are openly musing about the need for a modest tax increase to restore past service cuts, keep pace with inflation or cushion the blow of an even larger tax increase in 2010.

In 2008, Winnipeg used $424 million in property tax revenue to balance a $768-million operating budget. Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt wants to increase that kitty by $12.2 million — or about three per cent — to restore budget cuts made over the past 20 years to park maintenance, boulevard mowing, playground maintenance, tree-pruning and forestry. Continue reading →

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