Council just approved the budget for 2020. I’m very happy with the work that went into it….

Here are five key things to know about Budget 2020:

• It has big investments in roads and safety

• ~$4.5 million will be lost to senior levels of government

• Downtown Rehabilitation will continue in 2021

• Big savings were found throughout the City

• Taxes are down this Council term

Following is more information…

Tomorrow, Council heads into deliberations concerning Budget 2020. This is the third budget our current City Council will be setting. And it will be a very difficult one….

As with any large organisation, there is still room for efficiency in the City. We’ll continue figuring out how to use City resources better. But, we don’t have anywhere near the same potential savings as was possible last year. As always, inflation adds annual costs to the City. And in 2020, provincial and federal changes are creating holes worth millions of dollars in the City budget.

I do not see how Council could set a 2020 tax decrease, or even hold taxes where they are, without reducing some services delivered by the City. At the same time, controlling the tax burden is a big concern. Through budget deliberations, the predominant conversation will be, “in light of significant increased costs to the City, how can we balance maintaining quality services with charging reasonable taxes?”…