Members of Saint John common council discussed whether to approve or reject a three part plan on the city's financial future Thursday night.
The recently released financial sustainability report was tabled for 30 days by Saint John council Thursday night, after a tie-breaking vote settled by the Mayor.
Many councillors felt they wanted more time to discuss and review the long-awaited document, which outlines actions to reverse Saint John’s debt.
With a looming budget shortfall of between $10 and $12 million for 2021 and 2022, some councillors felt as if the document didn’t offer enough help, fast.
Don Darling, among others, thought the document was promising, but doesn’t meet majority of the city’s goals.
“Unfortunately the report did not meet the core objectives. Accepting this report would be disrespectful to our citizens and will handicap the city if there is no immediate action. Council has a right to reject a report that doesn’t meet our goals,” he said.
Councillor David Hickey says he can’t in good faith endorse the report, as it doesn’t deal with key budget shortfalls the city is facing in the next two years.
“Good enough. I’ve heard it so much tonight, the report is good enough. I’ve heard it my whole life in Saint John. It’s the reason we’re in this situation, is because we made decisions based on eh, good enough. The long-term commitments that are made in this plan, which are good, are just not soon enough,” he said.
Budgeting for the short term
The 20 action items outlined in the report aren’t expected to yield any significant returns until 2023, leaving the city with operational stresses for 2021 and 2022.
That means the city will have to face the reality of making cuts to several services in order to meet budget in the upcoming years.
“We’ve got enough money to the end of 2020, and that’s it,” said Deputy Mayor Shirley MacAlary. “We haven’t got enough money to balance the budget in 2021, and where are we going to get that money? If it doesn’t come from our taxes through the province, then the city is going to have to restructure, and every department will feel that.”
City Manager John Collin says a hypothetical list of cuts could include a significant reduction to transit and protective services, community grants would be un-affordable, there would be increased resident fees on things like garbage collection, additional non-resident fees for things like parking and potential tolls, workforce reductions and pay freezes, and “without a doubt there would be more potholes and more ice on the roads.”
He points out that cuts are not the only option on the table. City staff are currently working on alternative options and additional revenue streams.
This is also where the regional management task force comes in, to find cost-sharing options that will help cut down on Saint John’s costs.
Deputy Mayor Shirley MacAlary says she doesn’t believe the group of people on that task force—the regional mayors and representatives from the local service districts—will accomplish its goals.
“Why would I put a committee together with people who don’t work well together?” she said, citing recent disagreements over a regional ice strategy.
Councillor Ray Strowbridge agrees, saying that he would like to see all politicians taken off the task force, as they carry too much bias.
“It should be staffed with people who care less about winning the elections,” he said.
Areas of concern
Councillor Gary Sullivan thinks the city needs to rely less on handouts from the government, something this report would help facilitate.
“Where this is on the grade scale? It’s not an a plus. I think it’s a pass. There’s room to get better, but this report doesn’t fail. There is nothing in this report that is bad for the city of Saint John. There’s money that we’re saying no thank you to if we reject this report,” he said.
That money—totaling approximately $2 million in support—would come from things like a mandatory hotel accommodation levy, a tax exemption on municipal transit, and operational audits being paid for by the province.
Many councillors agreed that besides all the good, the report needed more detailed implementation plans, with strong goals and due dates.
Others want to see a stronger stance on property tax reform, including a proposal to transfer the industrial tax portion of the provincial property tax to the city—money that was made and collected in Saint John, MacAlary pointed out.
“We were either going to accept this report tonight or we were going to reject the report, so I think its an opportunity to pause now over 30 days to see if the parties can come back together to address any of the areas of concern,” said Darling at the end of the meeting.
“I’m hopeful that everyone will go back from this conversation tonight and reflect on where the opportunities exist.”
