The exterior of Saint John City Hall is pictured in this file photo. (Staff photo)
A much anticipated report on the financial future of Saint John has been released by the city and the provincial government.
Sustaining Saint John: A Three-Part Plan includes 20 action items on how to tackle the city’s debt, and other issues.
Some of the actions are specific to Saint John, while others apply regionally and provincially.
Of note, the plan involves the creation of a regional management task force made up of all the mayors in Greater Saint John, and representatives from local service districts.
They will identify and agree on arrangements for shared service delivery and cost-sharing options in the region.
Part three of the action plan outlines a commitment from the provincial government to reassess the city’s financial status after it has reviewed the status of the 20 actions and the recommendations of the regional management task force next spring.
Common council will discuss and debate the report at a special meeting Thursday evening.
This report comes after months of research done by a working group of both municipal and provincial representatives. Their work and findings have so far been confidential and kept under wraps.
Provincial Reaction
The goal is a balanced budget, and for the city to rely less on financial assistance from the province.
“I don’t believe there is any room for the province to hand out more rescue money going forward,” said Minister of Environment and Local Government Jeff Carr.
Carr says the document will help manage and grow not only the city but the province.
“It will be a document that many people will look over, many people will research and will study, but at the end of the day I believe it’s a document that not only brings the city of Saint john to the top as leaders in our province, but will also move our province forward in a way that’s never been done before,” he said during a scrum Wednesday afternoon.
Carr says he’s “incredibly proud” of the work done in the comprehensive and detailed document.
He explains task force—comprised of the mayors, and LSD representation—will also have provincial representation through a chair or leadership role. The work has already gotten underway, as the task force had its first meeting Wednesday morning.
“They are going to be able to get together at the table, they’ve shown that they have the leadership to pull this off, so I’m encouraged to see the work that comes out of that task force, there’s very intelligent people around that table, and the province is there to help them every step of the way”
They have a deadline of march 2020 to implement and review the action items, and come to a service-sharing agreement that works for everyone.
Highlights of the document include balancing service sharing and property tax reform.
Amalgamation is not mentioned anywhere in the document, says Carr, but there is mention of a reduced city boundary for Saint John. He says that decision will be made by the task force.
“I don’t believe that we have to eliminate boundaries between communities to be successful. The regional task force will decide and so they should decide on what their region looks like in the future.”
A full copy of the report can be found online.
