Quispamsis council voted in favour of moving ahead with a tax rate increase of one cent next year.
Mayor Gary Clark says the increase in the tax rate will be put into a reserve fund for any possible emergencies the town faces.
Clark says he didn’t want to increase the tax rate, but he doesn’t vote.
The town will also borrow $750,000 over 15 years to improve roads.
There will be a lot of construction in 2017, as it will be the most significant upgrade to roads ever done in the town.
Quispamsis council also decided to move ahead with cutting funding to Enterprise Saint John in half.
Last year, Quispamsis provided $112,000 in funding and now have cut that amount in half to $56,000.
Deputy Mayor Libby O’Hara says she hasn’t seen a lot of economic development in the Saint John region, especially when you consider the kind of money that’s been invested into ESJ.
O’Hara says the town is still collaborating with Enterprise Saint John and the $56,0000 investment is proof.
The only councillor who did not want to see the funding to ESJ cut was Emil Olsen.
Olsen says town council needs to look at the issues as a region, not as a sole municipality.
The chair of Enterprise Saint John feels as though Quispamsis council had their minds made before he made a final presentation in hopes of changing their minds surrounding the funding cut.
Larry Hachey says he’s really concerned with the ripple effect this funding cut may cause.
He says since Quispamsis brought up possibly cutting their funding in half, Saint John has since decided to scale back their funding as well, into two six-month increments to allow the city the opportunity to evaluate the job ESJ has done half way through the year.
Hachey says he’s also concerned with how Enterprise Saint John seems to be under fire right now.
He admits there’s been a lack of communication between ESJ and the local mayors, but says ESJ is doing its best to bring new businesses here.
Quispamsis council will finalize their budget on December 20th.
