Council voted to pass a budget on Monday that maintained road and snow clearing spending while instituting a modest tax raise of 1.87 per cent.
The overall financial plan allowed for taxable line item expenditures of $100,547,802. The city's budget for snow removal was capped at $7 million while the levy for road rehabilitation was set at $5 million. The General Infrastructure Reinvestment Fund, which accounts for spending on sewer, water, solid waste, district energy and off-street parking, was set at $2.5 million. The cost of all three of these items was maintained at the same amount as last year's budget. According to a report prepared by city staff, the tax rate increase this year is the smallest since 2013.
The budget as initially presented to council would have garnered only a 1.5 per cent increase in municipal property taxes. However, four enhancement items raised the taxation level to 1.87 per cent for this year.
The first item, the approval of increased expenditure for the hiring of two additional Prince George RCMP staff members at a cost of $116,328, proved to be the most contentious. The motion to approve this expenditure passed 7-2, with councillors Terri McConnachie and Brian Skakun voting against.
McConnachie expressed concern about escalating costs of policing at a time when the RCMP are often being tasked with dealing with issues related to poverty, such as homelessness and mental health.
"Year after year with consistent increases there's not enough time to stop and evaluate just what those increases are. I'm also mindful that increasing is easy, having to roll back is really difficult," McConnachie said.
Other councillors who voted for the increase expressed reservations about local RCMP being saddled with more responsibilities related to tasks such as parole checks. Some felt these tasks, coupled with dealing with poor or homeless residents in the downtown core, was taking police away from dealing with more serious criminal matters.
"I still have reservations about continuing to increase our police force without seeing the results, but ultimately I think we're in a time of unprecedented challenges for public safety right now," councillor Jillian Merrick said.
Merrick voted in favour of the increased staffing.
The increase of new staff will bring the total to 142 RCMP personnel in Prince George. The move is expected to significantly reduce overtime costs.
Council also approved a $134,394 proposal for the creation of an emergency program coordinator as a permanent city staff position, as well as the creation of two bylaw enforcement positions at a cost of $52,577. The bylaw enforcement officers would be tasked with dealing with the "growing problem of marginalized persons in the downtown and surrounding area," according to a city staff report.
Finally, the city approved a $70,000 expenditure for the replacement of playground equipment at Starlane Park. The park's playground equipment had been previously removed from after a group of parents presented to council in September. The parents claimed the equipment did not meet safety standards, according to a staff report.
