City council headed into budget discussions Monday looking at a 2.72-per-cent increase to the tax levy to cover the cost of existing services.
The hike works out to $2.6 million and will raise the general levy to $84.2 million. The levies for snow control, road rehabilitation and general infrastructure reinvestment will all be held steady at $7 million, $5 million and $2.5 million respectively.
All together, it adds up to $98.7 million to be collected from property taxes by the city and the total could go higher. On Wednesday, council will consider a series of enhancements, or added services:
- Prince George RCMP is seeking support to hire more officers by September. That would add up to $113,273 for September-December and $339,818 for the following year.
Last year, three were added to the roster and the plan is to add a further two next year.
Speaking to council on Monday night, Supt. Warren Brown said the detachment fell short of fielding a full roster of 124 last year, hovering in the range of 114 to 117 members instead.
But with the help of a more robust plan for succession this year, Brown said he hopes to see a higher number in 2017.
He said those who take on a position at the detachment are required to stay at least five years before they can transfer to another community, although he cannot hold anyone back who gets a promotion.
Council was also presented with a table that showed $1.6 million was spent on overtime in 2015 due to a shortage of members.
- Aquatics services is asking for $247,478 to hire four more lifeguards.
In part, they're needed to meet a B.C. Lifesaving Society recommendation to have two lifeguards on the main pool at the Prince George Aquatic Centre at all times. Doing so will allow them to scan their zone between 10 and 30 seconds, down from the old standard of 60 to 90 seconds.
As well, it would pay for a rotation guard to spell off the other two, check blind spots and other areas, such as the steam room, sauna, gym and change room, and to deal with the public without interrupting pool supervision.
- Parks services is seeking $81,051 for a two-person crew who would work five days a week to control weeds on sidewalks, trails, medians and boulevards on a seasonal basis.
- Social planning is seeking $141,468 to pay for a full-time social planning coordinator at $76,468, a data management contract at $60,000 and additional community engagement, at $5,000.
The department is also seeking $140,850 to increase its community grants budget to $500,000. That would allow social planning to enter into multi-year service agreements with larger organizations like Theatre Northwest, host two grant intakes per year and allow support for more small-scale local events.
