City Budget Approved

PRINCE GEORGE — The budget discussions for Mayor and Council held little surprise as well as little discussion. The snow control and road rehabilitation budgets will remain the same as last year, at $7 million and $5 million, respectively. To maintain the status quo of services, a tax hike of 1.5% was proposed.

The area of greatest discussion was around four “enhancements” that came forward, adding to the bottom line for a tax increase. They were for an additional two RCMP officers, a new Emergency Program Coordinator, two new bylaw compliance assistants, and playground replacement at Starlane Park in 2018 as opposed to 2021.

The greatest amount of discussion surrounded the RCMP request. That would come at a cost of $116,000, or 0.12% in taxes, this year and another 0.24% next year. But the financial implications were not at the centre of discussion. Rather, the amount of offloading from higher levels of government, the Province in particular.  “In all my time on Council, I have never seen our police have to take on so much more,” said Councillor Brian Skakun, who was in support of a single officer rather than two.  He cited officers having to “go door-to-door” checking on parolees and the City having to take on more than $60,000 per year on processing DNA samples.

Councillor Terri McConnachie was opposed to adding more officers, calling it a “band-aid” solution. In the end, the request passed, with Councillor McConnachie and Councillor Skakun opposed.