WINNIPEG – Mayor Brian Bowman and rookie finance chair Marty Morantz are preparing to table their first operating budget since being elected.
While Winnipeggers are getting ready to file their income taxes this season, many will be bracing for impending tax increases in the years to come after the City of Winnipeg releases its 2015 operating budget Tuesday morning.
As expected, property taxes will go up by 2.3 per cent. Depending on where you live in the city, combined with your school taxes, it could mean an extra five per cent on your property tax bill.
The City portion of the capital and operating budget is all about infrastructure.
680 CJOB News has learned the city will spend $103 million, or triple what was spent three years ago, on local and regional streets.
The controversial Rapid Transit expansion to the University of Manitoba from Jubilee Avenue will be paid for by a five cent fare increase and a 0.33 per cent property tax increase next year – in 2016.
There will be no core services cut this year however, you can expect to see fewer flowers planted on city property around town and the fall street cleaning program is being cut.
There is also some good news for drivers. The City is planning on creating a Transportation Management Centre to handle traffic jams. Drivers would be able to handle traffic jams better by receiving alerts to help speed up their commute.
The budget calls for $2.5 million in operating money and another $3 million over two years in capital spending on a system to help manage the flow of traffic at 650 intersections around the city.
The system would have the ability to send real-time traffic updates and have lights stay green longer to speed up traffic around problem areas such as stalls, collisions or construction zones.
– With files from 680 CJOB News
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