Mayor mum on which cuts could be avoided in budget

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This article was published 05/03/2020 (2108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Friday’s multi-year budget will aim to protect key services without relying on a higher-than-expected tax increase to do so, according to Mayor Brian Bowman.

In the wake of cost-saving proposals that noted dozens of city amenities could shut down to balance the city’s first four-year budget, the mayor said Winnipeggers can expect some investment.

“The multi-year balanced budget will prioritize investments in (Winnipeg) Transit, community safety, community services, roads, fire protection and our tree canopy,” Bowman told reporters Thursday.

The mayor was tight-lipped as to which proposed cuts could be avoided and how the city will do so as municipal departments cap their annual spending hikes at between zero and two per cent for the next four years.

Some groups urged council to raise property taxes beyond the 2.33 per cent annual hikes Bowman proposed in his re-election campaign but the mayor said that won’t be done.

“I’m unwavering in that commitment, primarily because it’s a commitment that I made to Winnipeggers,” he said.

The mayor’s comments follow a long and sometimes divisive budget process. Some critics have accused the city of deliberately scaring Winnipeggers with the prospect of steep cuts council wouldn’t actually approve to make the actual draft budget appear more acceptable.

Cost-saving options from the community services department, for example, include the potential closure of 38 wading pools, five pools, five arenas and three libraries. Council committees also heard that city staff positions, a multi-family garbage contract and some Transit services could be on the chopping block.

The mayor declined to rule out any specific cut Thursday.

On the same day, both the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and a citizen’s group entitled Budget for All Winnipeg were outside City Hall to oppose the potential cuts.

Jeff Friesen, a member of Budget for All, said he’s concerned the closure of the Sherbrook Pool would be particularly damaging.

“That is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in our city… That they have a space that they can go and enjoy a public facility, I think, is vital to the life of that community,” said Friesen.

Friesen said he would personally prefer to pay a steeper property tax to avoid those cuts.

“To me, taxes are a way in which we can share our resources and sharing resources is a vital way to build up communities,” he said.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca