Moose Jaw’s city council is cracking open the books and looking for cost savings in its forthcoming budget as it potentially faces a $2-million deficit next year.
“It’s very difficult. Nobody wants to cut anything. And the problem is there’s not enough money for everything, so it’s either cut or increase taxes,” Coun. Dawn Luhning said. “So it’s a balance we have to come to with everything.”
Moose Jaw is bracing for changes to revenue sharing as the province prepares its budget, which will likely negatively affect cities across the province.
“The premier has telegraphed very clearly that there’s going to be probably a reduction in revenue sharing… so I would hope that we’re going to be basing our decisions on the fact that we’re not going to be getting as much as last year,” Luhning said.
In a referendum during the provincial election, Moose Jaw residents voted for the city to pay for replacement cast-iron water mains from city revenue. City council says despite a hefty price tag, it’s still a top priority.
“We have water main issues that the community has awakened to and accepted wholly, so there is going to be some upward pressure on the tax bill because of the way people would like to see that financed,” city manager Matt Noble said.
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As for where the cuts will come from or whether there will be a hike in utility rates and taxes, city council says it’s still too early to say.
“It’s a very intense budget process right now,” Mayor Fraser Tolmie said. “We’re looking at everything and I think we have to take a holistic approach and a very philosophical approach.”
“Expenditures are up 4.9 per cent in the operating budget and there’s just not enough money to fund everything. So where do you cut? In my opinion, there has to be money taken out of every budget,” Luhning said.
“We have to look at efficiencies and what the payoffs are down the road. If in one or two or three years, if we cut back a little bit or raise taxes, there has to be a rate of return for the taxpayers. Is Moose Jaw going to flourish? Is it going to grow? Is there going to be a higher population? Those are the decisions we face,” she said.
“You can’t just keep increasing taxes and then not see any value in your day-to-day life: driving on the streets, garbage pickup, water main replacement, that sort of thing,” Luhning said.
Moose Jaw’s city council says it will still need at least another day of deliberations before it can finalize the budget. If its portion of the money from the province’s revenue-sharing program takes a bigger hit than expected, it could find itself reviewing the budget once again.
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