Prince George residents are facing a potential 3.5 per cent property tax increase as council gets down to the brass tacks of the 2013 city budget.
Of that increase, 1.5 per cent (plus $600,000 in new construction revenue) is needed to maintain core service levels and the city's contractual agreements; one per cent is a bump to the road rehabilitation levy; and one per cent is a new levy for investment in general infrastructure.
The proposed increase is half of the worst-case-scenario projection put forth by acting city manager and director of corporate services Kathleen Soltis in the budget guidelines submitted to council in November.
"Unless the City of Prince George decreases expenses and/or increases non-tax revenues, the estimated year 2013 total municipal property tax increases will be 7.09 per cent," her report said.
Draft budget documents are available on the city website for public review in advance of the first council budget meeting Wednesday night.
Residents have two ways of providing feedback during the process - by filling out an online questionnaire surveying their satisfaction with current levels of city services and the way tax dollars are allocated or by attending one of the two public meetings on Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, which will both open with a 15-minute session for community input. Each Wednesday budget meeting begins at 3:30 p.m. in council chambers, with the public address period running from 6 to 6:15 p.m. each night.
During the 2012 process, there were five delegations who spoke up at the first budget meeting and two - who were repeat visitors from the first - at the second meeting. This year, residents are allowed to speak once at one of the meetings.
The public input received during last year's core services review process will also be considered as part of the budget deliberations.
"The financial plan as presented is balanced at a level that maintains core service levels, meets council commitments and funds contractual expenditures," financial planning manager Kris Dalio said in the staff report.
Among the pressures in the city's $121.6 million operating budget is $21.6 million to fund the RCMP contract - which has a federal-government approved 3.5 per cent pension and salary increase for the detachment's 121 members of staff.
Staff have budgeted for the city to spend an extra $800,000 on paving projects, up from last year's allocated $3.5 million.
The snow clearing budget remains at the status quo of $5.04 million. Last year, the budget was exceed by $257,000 which has to come from the city's general operating surplus funds since the cost overruns in 2011 exhausted the snow control reserve fund.
In addition to the general, sewer and water operating funds, the city has also created a new one for the district energy system, supported by user fees. There is also a provision for a $80,000 grant to cover the remaining three per cent of property tax area organizations were not exempted following an October council attempt to not exceed 1.5 per cent of the tax levy in permissive tax exemptions.
