Residential tax rate cut proposed in Moncton's $188M budget
CBC
Moncton staff are proposing city council approve a $188-million operating budget next year that includes a 6.6 per cent residential tax rate cut.
Councillors were given an overview of the budget Monday before detailed discussions start at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Those deliberations will include a closely watched decision on increasing Codiac Regional RCMP spending. Monday's council meeting was bookended by calls to defund the police and add officers for downtown patrols.
Jacques Doucet, Moncton's chief financial officer, said staff tried to balance rising municipal costs while reducing the impact on residents.
"I have never seen inflationary pressures like this," Doucet told councillors Monday. "So it was a real change from prior years where we were always dealing with two or three per cent normal inflation."
For the second year in a row, the city has proposed a tax rate cut to counter soaring assessment values set by the province.
The budget would cut the residential rate by 10.3 cents to $1.4443 per $100 of assessed value. A home valued at $330,000 would pay $4,766 in property taxes at that rate.
The non-residential tax rate is proposed at $2.3208 per $100 of assessed value.
A tax rate increase is proposed for unincorporated areas the province is amalgamating with the city on Jan. 1 as part of local governance reforms. The residential rate would increase five cents to $0.5043 per $100 of assessed value.
Water and sewer rates are proposed to remain the same.
Overall, the budget would see spending rise to $188.3 million from $176.2 million budgeted this year.
The outline given Monday indicates Moncton's portion of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority budget could rise $4.3 million, or 15 per cent, over last year. The policing authority oversees the Codiac RCMP, which polices Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.
The board has recommended adding 25 officers and 14 civilian support staff. After initially requesting all the hiring take place next year, the board has revised its recommendation to spread it over three years.
Even if no additional staff are approved, the board has said it still needs an increase of $3.8 million for things like equipment replacement and inflation.
Drive south from Calgary on Highway 2 and watch as the speed cuts from 110 kilometres an hour down to 70, then 50, then 30 for a temporary school zone.
The new Ontario Line will include protective barriers at all stations to separate platforms from the tracks, something the Toronto Transit Commission has been considering adding to its subway system for years.
This First Person column is the experience of Andrew Stetson, a writer and storyteller in P.E.I. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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