Councillors are looking at a long day in chambers Tuesday as they debate the municipality’s budget in its entirety before moving on to a packed agenda at Regional Council.
READ MORE: Halifax councillors to debate their own salaries at Tuesday meeting
The budget was focused on limiting spending this year so councillors could keep their wish of no tax hikes leading up to the election.
To reach that goal, departments like parks and recreation and the public libraries are making do with less this year. Overall spending is down by $2 million and sits at $724.7 million.
While the average tax bill will be flat compared with last year, the storm water surcharge will go up by $1 to sit at $42.
One of the biggest ticket items is the construction of the Dartmouth four-pad. $34 million is being set aside for construction in 2016, and another $7 million is being set aside for 2017.
In the meantime, if the budget is passed as is, councillors will start setting aside $10 million each year for potential infrastructure projects that could get help from the federal government’s upcoming infrastructure plan.
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Other items of note:
Councillors will debate whether the formula for calculating their stories should change. Councillor Waye Mason told Global News Monday he thinks the new formula will be passed but it will be a squeaker. Read the full report here.
Councillor Jennifer Watts will be putting forward a motion for a staff report on the municipality’s ability to provide some form of property tax relief for non-profit organizations or registered charities.
Finally, the contract with the province for the Halifax Convention Centre will be discussed in a closed, in-camera meeting. The motion asks councillors to give the mayor permission to amend the existing contract, called a Memorandum of Agreement.
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