Limiting a tax levy increase in next year's budget to 3.5 per cent would require a variety of measures including a hiring freeze and overtime ban, according to early budget figures staff have prepared for a city council committee.
This afternoon, the finance and audit committee will hear from corporate services director Kathleen Soltis on the different avenues staff can take while preparing the 2015 budget.
"The initial draft of the guideline prepared by administration resulted in a 6.5 per cent tax levy increase," said Soltis's report to the committee.
To trim that down to a more palatable 3.5 per cent increase as a starting point for discussion, staff identified some areas to adjust. These include cutting a planned $867,202 increase to the general infrastructure reinvestment levy, reducing the general operating contingency by $100,000, introducing a hiring freeze on six positions to save $554,531 and introducing a management overtime ban estimated at $40,000.
More cuts would have to be made in order to reach other scenarios.
For a 2.5 per cent levy increase, staff would reduce the general operating contingency further by $75,000 and reduce the general operating fund's contribution to the capital reserve fund by $800,000.
To reach a 1.5 per cent cap there would be further reductions to the contribution made to the capital reserve and general contingency funds, as well as eliminating the cost of living increases for management and council totalling $197,596 and $93,936 worth of service agreement increases for the Prince George Public Library and Initiatives Prince George.
Staff are recommending that the road levy, augmented by federal gas tax funds, remain static at $7 million and are also suggesting more money be put into funding snow control.
This year, the snow budget sits at $5.8 million and staff are recommending that an extra half-million dollars be put aside. More than $4.1 million has already been spent on snow control this year, with closer to $6.3 million forecast by the year's end.
During last year's budget meetings, staff had suggested a $6 million snow control budget to meet the operating expenses as well as leave some money aside for a reserve fund. But council decided that putting aside what amounts to 25 per cent of the snow control expenses was too much.
The extra $200,000 was moved to the city's general infrastructure reinvestment fund, created during the 2013 budget process, where money is earmarked for investment in the city's facilities and other assets.
That infrastructure fund wouldn't be increased above its current $1,534,842 in 2015 "in order to assist with managing the city's budget constraints," said Soltis's report.
