CFIB Report Criticizes Prince George’s Spending Habits

A new report is criticizing Prince George for overspending on it’s day to day operational costs. The Canadian Federation of Independent business crunched numbers between 2005-2015, citing that Prince George had a 5.4 percent of operating spending per capita between 2014-15, the highest in the province in a year BC Stats says the city declined in population. It also notes that there has been a 37% increase in wages for fire fighters since 2005. Councillor Garth Frizzell says the report was based on a per capita basis, and that stating the city had a decline in population may not be true. The last census numbers in 2016, had Prince George grow in population by 2000. “It was a bit of a suprise that the tag out comment from Prince George was pretty negative.” said Frizzell. “If they looked at some of the taxation policies we have around small business in Prince George, we’re among the tops in the province.”