[00:00:01]
[1. Opening Statement]
I'D LIKE TO THANK COUNCILLOR, MCLENNAN AND MISS WHITE FOR JOINING US ONLINE.[4. 2024 Budget Deliberations]
BASSI-KELLETT, I BELIEVE THERE'S, AN ANSWER FROM A QUESTION FROM LAST NIGHT, AS WELL AS SOME CALCULATIONS ON CURRENT TAX PROJECTION AS WELL AS THE THE CAPITAL FUND.THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
WITH PLEASURE. AND SO I WANT TO REALLY COMMEND STAFF WHO'VE BEEN GRINDING AWAY TODAY TO SHARPEN THEIR PENCILS, REDO THE NUMBERS, RE- RECHECK THE NUMBERS, MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT REALLY ACCURATE INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO SHARE.
AND MISTER PANDOO CAN SPEAK TO SOME OF THE NUMBERS AROUND THIS AS WELL.
HE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE INFORMATION.
BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO THEM, I WILL SAY THEN, THAT MISTER PANDOO AND HIS TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH COUNCIL THE IMPACT OF THE GENERAL FUND ADJUSTMENTS ON THE PROPERTY TAX INCREASE IN THE DRAFT BUDGET, AND HE WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SHARE THE IMPACT OF THE CAPITAL FUND ADJUSTMENTS, SPECIFICALLY THE CARRY FORWARDS, AND THEN THE ADJUSTMENTS TO A COUPLE OF PROJECTS THAT WERE PROPOSED IN 2024.
SO, MISS WHITE, I'LL TURN TO YOU FIRST TO SPEAK ABOUT TAX ABATEMENTS.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.
SO TAX ABATEMENTS, DEPENDING ON HOW THEY ARE REQUESTED COULD COME FROM TWO DIFFERENT PLACES.
SO IF A UPFRONT TAX ABATEMENT, WHICH WOULD BE FOR THE FULL FIVE YEAR TERM, HYPOTHETICALLY IF IT WAS, SAY A DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, THAT AMOUNT WOULD COME TO COUNCIL AS A REQUEST FOR APPROVAL AND WOULD BE PAID FROM THAT DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT RESERVE AS A ONE TIME LUMP SUM AT THE BEGINNING, INSTEAD OF BEING PAID OVER TIME, IF THAT UPFRONT ABATEMENT WASN'T REQUESTED, THEN THE AMOUNT WOULD ACTUALLY BE PAID OUT OVER UP TO THE FIVE YEAR TERM, AND THAT WOULD COME OUT OF THE GENERAL FUND.
SO HOPEFULLY THAT ANSWERS THAT QUESTION.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE AND AND TAX ABATEMENTS? SEEING NONE.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INFORMATION, MS. BASSI-KELLETT, IF YOU'D LIKE TO HAND IT OVER TO THE REST OF THE TEAM.
I WILL TRANSFER IT OVER TO MR. PANDOO, WHO MAY THROW SOME NUMBERS OUT RELATING TO THE TAX ABATEMENTS, THE HISTORICALLY AND WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN HE WILL, AFTER THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE GENERAL FUND AND THE CAPITAL FUND.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MRS. BASSI-KELLETT. WE DID SOME DIGGING INTO OUR RECORDS JUST TO CONFIRM SOME NUMBERS.
SO WE WENT BACK ALL THE WAY TO 2017, AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THERE HAS BEEN A LOT.
WE DID FIND, 2017, 8900 WAS PAID OUT, WAS GIVEN AND 2019, 20,955.
HOWEVER, WE DO HAVE ONE THAT IS GOING TO BE THAT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED ONE APPLICATION FOR 88,694 THAT WAS GOING TO BE PAID ANNUALLY.
SO THIS IS WHERE WE ARE AT IN TERMS OF THE, TOTAL TAX ABATEMENT SINCE 2017.
THANK YOU. ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THAT ONE? THANKS AGAIN FOR PULLING THAT INFORMATION.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT THE OLD DRUM ROLL.
THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR.
I WILL TURN THINGS OVER TO MR. PANDOO, WHO WILL TALK ABOUT THE GENERAL FUND AND WHAT THE ADJUSTMENTS LOOK LIKE WHEN IT COMES TO THE PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.
THANK YOU, MRS. BASSI-KELLETT. SHE DID MENTION ABOUT SHARPENING PENCIL.
SO WE'LL HAVE TO GO BACK OVER THAT ONE.
AND AFTER ADDING $10,000 FOR THE ARCTIC INSPIRATION PRIZE, REMOVING 75,000 FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, REMOVING 100,000 FOR THE ENGAGEMENT OF A CONSULTANT ON THE STREET OUTREACH PROGRAM, REMOVING 50,000 FOR THE CAPITAL AREA COMMITTEE OPERATIONS, REDUCING THE HERITAGE COMMITTEE ALLOCATION BY 10,179.
[00:05:04]
THE NEW AMBULANCE FEES AS PROPOSED LAST NIGHT.AND THE PROPOSED TAX RATE HAS DROPPED FROM 7.22% TO 6.42%.
HOWEVER, AS SOME PROJECTS LIKE THE PARK DEVELOPMENT, TRAIL DEVELOPMENT, CP WASTE STRATEGIC PLAN AND THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN PROJECTS HAD A TOTAL OF 386,805 ARE TIED TO RESTRICTIVE GRANTS LIKE THE ICIP, DMF AND COMMUNITY PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.
SORRY. ANY QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL ON THAT? AND, SO IF THERE IS TO REDUCE TAXES ANY FURTHER, THERE CAN BE A REDUCTION TO TAXES TO CAPITAL THAT WOULD DECREASE THE CLOSING BALANCE OF THE CAPITAL FUND.
IF THERE IS ANY FURTHER MOTIONS OR WILL OF COUNCIL ON COUNCILLOR PAYNE.
THANK YOU. DO YOU HAVE SECONDER? COUNCILLOR COCHRANE.
COUNCILLOR PAYNE. DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO IT ANY FURTHER? NO. WELL, YEAH.
YEAH, I'LL SPEAK TO IT FURTHER.
I THINK THERE'S AN EXPECTATION FROM THE CITY RESIDENTS FOR US TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO KEEP THIS TAX RATE UNDER CONTROL THIS YEAR.
I THINK 5% IS NOT A TERRIBLE TAX RATE TO HAVE FOR THIS YEAR, CONSIDERING WHAT, SOME MUNICIPALITIES AND CITIES AROUND CANADA ARE PROPOSING RIGHT NOW.
IT'S A LOT BETTER THAN 7.2, AND IT'S SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN 6.4.
BUT 5% IS A GOOD WHOLE NUMBER.
WE WANT TO KEEP KAVI'S JOB EASY.
ANYTHING FURTHER TO THE MOTION? I'M ALSO IN SUPPORT.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO BALANCE THE SHORT TERM AND THE LONG TERM.
SO, FOR ME, THE FACT THAT WE WILL BE REDUCING TAXES ACTUALLY FROM 16% DOWN TO 5% IS PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THROUGH SOME HEAVY LIFTING, WE'VE INCREASED THE CAPITAL FUND CLOSING BALANCE TO A GOOD, HEALTHY POSITION OF, 16.6 MILLION.
I THINK THE MATH WOULD BE, AND SO WE'RE JUST OVER 16 MILLION, AND WE KNOW THE COST.
WE'VE SEEN, YOU KNOW, THE FIRE HALL FROM 3 MILLION TO TO 17 MILLION.
SO I AM IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION TO REDUCE THE TRANSFER OF TAXES TO CAPITAL TO GIVE, THE, I GUESS, MS. BASSI-KELLETT, QUESTION TO ADMINISTRATION, WOULD YOU LIKE US TO ACTUALLY GO WITH A NUMBER LIKE REDUCE THE TAXES TO CAPITAL BY 513,000, OR IS IT OKAY TO TO KEEP IT AT 5%? THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
I THINK IT'S ADVISABLE TO KEEP IT.
THAT COUNCIL WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AT 5%.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AND THAT CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY.
ANYTHING FURTHER? ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION ON THE BUDGET? ANYTHING FOR FURTHER MOTIONS?SEEING NONE.
BIG THANKS TO EVERYBODY FOR THEIR HARD WORK THIS WEEK.
WE WILL FINALIZE ALL THAT, GET ALL THE FEES AND CHARGES BYLAW TO COME FORWARD TO GPC.
ON MONDAY AT NOON, WE'LL ALSO HAVE A SPECIAL COUNSEL.
SO WE'LL DO FIRST READING OF THE FEES AND CHARGES.
[00:10:03]
WE'LL GO TO GPC AND THEN WE'LL GO TO SECOND AND THIRD READING THAT NIGHT.HAVE A GREAT NIGHT, EVERYBODY.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.