The City of Winnipeg got a staggering $61 million more from the province last year than it expected, according to the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs 2008-09 annual report tabled in the legislature Thursday.
Yet we still hear Mayor Sam Katz and city council whine that they’re not getting their share of provincial and federal tax dollars.
At some point, these guys have to give their heads a shake.
The provincial government had budgeted $156 million for the city in its 2008 budget, including conditional and unconditional grants, and specific funding for areas such as road repair.
But that figure soared to $217 million by the end of the year after the province topped up funding in a number of areas. It makes a mockery of the complainers at city hall who claim they’re starved for cash and may have to raise property taxes as a result.
The province had budgeted $92 million for the city under its Building Manitoba Fund, where the province shares a percentage of income, corporate and gas taxes with the city.
That transfer grew to $97 million by the end of the year due to higher than anticipated income and fuel taxes.
The city also got a major boost in unconditional grants it receives from the province. That grant, which the city can spend however it wants, was originally set at $20 million for the year. But it was topped up to $35 million “to assist the city in meeting its budgetary pressures.” I believe that’s called a bailout.
The city got just over $1 million more in gaming money from the province than expected, for a total of $15.7 million.
They also got $15 million more than expected in capital assistance from the province, primarily to help pay for the southwest rapid transit corridor.
City hall got a windfall from Broadway for road repair. The original budget for road and bridge repair was $20 million. But the city ended up getting a $45-million jackpot instead, primarily because the province agreed to accelerate $25 million in 2009 roads funding.
There were a few other categories that didn’t change much from the original budget. But all told, the city got a $217-million windfall from the province, up 39% from what was originally budgeted.
Despite that, we still hear the usual complaints from the mayor and city council that they’re not getting their fair share of the taxation pie. And they threaten that if they don’t get more, they may have to raise property taxes.
How much more do they need?
Perhaps if they got their own spending under control they could solve whatever money problems they claim to have.
The city still hasn’t cut its bloated bureaucracy, despite claims to the contrary by Katz. In 2003, there was an average of 8,385 people on the payroll at city hall. Five years later, that number was up slightly to 8,402, according to the city’s own annual financial reports.
Worse, labour costs at the city soared 21% between 2003 and 2008, up $100 million.
The truth is, the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
They should solve that first.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2009/10/04/11288126-sun.html
The City of Winnipeg got a staggering $61 million more from the province last year than it expected, according to the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs 2008-09 annual report tabled in the legislature Thursday.
Yet we still hear Mayor Sam Katz and city council whine that they’re not getting their share of provincial and federal tax dollars.
At some point, these guys have to give their heads a shake.
The provincial government had budgeted $156 million for the city in its 2008 budget, including conditional and unconditional grants, and specific funding for areas such as road repair.
But that figure soared to $217 million by the end of the year after the province topped up funding in a number of areas. It makes a mockery of the complainers at city hall who claim they’re starved for cash and may have to raise property taxes as a result.
The province had budgeted $92 million for the city under its Building Manitoba Fund, where the province shares a percentage of income, corporate and gas taxes with the city.
That transfer grew to $97 million by the end of the year due to higher than anticipated income and fuel taxes.
The city also got a major boost in unconditional grants it receives from the province. That grant, which the city can spend however it wants, was originally set at $20 million for the year. But it was topped up to $35 million “to assist the city in meeting its budgetary pressures.” I believe that’s called a bailout.
The city got just over $1 million more in gaming money from the province than expected, for a total of $15.7 million.
They also got $15 million more than expected in capital assistance from the province, primarily to help pay for the southwest rapid transit corridor.
City hall got a windfall from Broadway for road repair. The original budget for road and bridge repair was $20 million. But the city ended up getting a $45-million jackpot instead, primarily because the province agreed to accelerate $25 million in 2009 roads funding.
There were a few other categories that didn’t change much from the original budget. But all told, the city got a $217-million windfall from the province, up 39% from what was originally budgeted.
Despite that, we still hear the usual complaints from the mayor and city council that they’re not getting their fair share of the taxation pie. And they threaten that if they don’t get more, they may have to raise property taxes.
How much more do they need?
Perhaps if they got their own spending under control they could solve whatever money problems they claim to have.
The city still hasn’t cut its bloated bureaucracy, despite claims to the contrary by Katz. In 2003, there was an average of 8,385 people on the payroll at city hall. Five years later, that number was up slightly to 8,402, according to the city’s own annual financial reports.
Worse, labour costs at the city soared 21% between 2003 and 2008, up $100 million.
The truth is, the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
They should solve that first.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2009/10/04/11288126-sun.html
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