EDMONTON – City councillors boosted spending for seniors, sports and the arts, but weren’t so sympathetic to Northlands Monday on the first day of voting for the 2013 budget.
Volunteer groups that give rides to seniors will receive an extra $400,000 to support their service and develop a plan for improving how they operate in future, while non-profit social groups and seniors centres will see their budgets boosted by $900,000.
But councillors cut the amount requested to implement the new winter city strategy to $250,000 from $350,000, arguing the city shouldn’t hire an extra employee to co-ordinate the work.
“It just seems to me there are eight people in the events department. They can take this on,” Mayor Stephen Mandel told community services general manager Linda Cochrane.
“Why can’t you take someone from your organization and put them at it for a year?”
Although Mandel supports the strategy, Coun. Kerry Diotte dismissed it, saying there are better ways to use the money.
“We spent 200 grand on the Metropolis (winter) festival last year that was a miserable failure … I don’t know that we can build festivals in trying to do it through a bureaucratic way.”
But Coun. Ben Henderson, who’s in charge of the initiative, said the plan covers far more than festivals, such as changing approaches to transportation and planning to make them more winter-friendly.
Diotte unsuccessfully encouraged his colleagues to put $525,000 into Northlands proposals to improve the K Days parade with better floats from local festivals and increased downtown activity, as well as redeveloping Bonanza Park and reaching out to multicultural groups and the region.
But that push ran into a wall of skepticism from councillors who wanted more information on how the money would be spent.
“I know Northlands is an organization passionate about our city and they have great expectations for the festival, but we would expect … more background,” said Coun. Don Iveson, part of the majority that turned down the funding.
“(This is) an invitation to Northlands to come and do a better job pitching what these dollars would be spent on.”
Other items discussed included:
– $6 million added to city revenue from unexpected additional assessment revenue.
– $600,000 approved for a bid to host the 2014 International Triathlon Union Grand Final event.
– $240,000 approved to develop part of Enterprise Square into a gallery for local artists and University of Alberta artifacts (the U of A is also contributing to the project).
– $907,000 to improve bus service and reduce crowding was defeated.
The biggest spending cut was a decision to chop $5.2 million from the neighbourhood rehabilitation levy, reducing the dedicated tax increase for this area to one per cent from 1.5 per cent.
That money will instead come from other construction projects the city won’t be able to complete next year, although chief financial officer Lorna Rosen warned this will eventually have an impact on that work.
About 15 out of 48 amendments, including a proposal to reduce the proposed increase in the police budget by $11.4 million, are left for debate Tuesday.
“The budget is going very good. Councillors are being very sensible,” Mandel told reporters. “Hopefully, it will come in at a reasonable price for the citizens of Edmonton.”
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