The city’s operating budget has passed, but will require a third reading in the morning before it can be brought into law.
It’s a procedural tactic used in 2016 to send a message to the mayor by two former members of Executive Policy Committee.
Eleven councillors voted in favour of passing the city’s 2025 operating budget.
Councillors Gilroy, Mayes, Rollins, Wyatt, and Orlikow were the holdouts today, citing a number of reasons for voting against the budget.
Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) told 680 CJOB she wanted to see the vote paused for a few days until a committee meeting on water and sewage — and potential rate increases — can be held Feb. 3.
“I’m really concerned that this is an almost six per cent tax rate increase, but it doesn’t account for the looming increase in the water and waste rates,” Rollins said.
“What I’m saying is wait another week. Water and sewage services are not just line items, these are essential services — services that every single resident depends on every single day.
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“I’m going to ask to hit the pause button just until Feb. 3, to make sure that the budget takes a responsible approach, a transparent approach … and to account for the resulting rate hikes and inflationary increases that we know are just days away.”
Rollins, who recently shook up council by resigning from the mayor’s executive policy committee (EPC), said the public shouldn’t be kept in the dark until after the budget is passed.
Mayor Scott Gillingham, however, said there are no grounds for adding the water and waste report to the budget — and that it’s always a standalone item.
“Coun. Rollins was on EPC when we drafted and tabled the budget over six weeks ago,” Gillingham told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
“I heard nothing from the councillor about any concerns until suddenly in the last 24-48 hours, she has issues with the budget. I’ll be frank — I question the sincerity.”
Once the water and waste report is ready, Gillingham said, the full council and the public will get an opportunity to see it.
“Water and sewer rate reports … are always dealt with by council outside of the budget, and what’s really important right now is we have to make sure that we give our staff the time to get all the right information into that report so it can be made available to council.”
The preliminary budget faced controversy when it was initially made public due to a now-axed pilot project, which was set to increase the snow-clearing threshold for residential streets. Due to public backlash, the plan was nixed.
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