Think-tank’s alternative city budget proposes dramatic changes
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2018 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
An alternative civic budget proposes to spend more on city services by finding the money from large increases in the property and business taxes, a reduction in the police budget and some new charges.
The Manitoba branch of the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released its alternative municipal budget at a noon event in the courtyard at city hall Tuesday.
The alternative plan proposes to raise an additional $133 million in revenue that would be spent on libraries, recreation, transit, affordable housing and road repairs.
It includes a property tax increase of 7.33 per cent combined with a 50 per cent increase in the impact fee and — reversing a trend of successive councils — a slight increase in the business tax rate.
It also proposes a whole series of new charges: a parking lot fee ($1 per day for all commercial and office parking lot spaces), which would raise $34 million annually, and a commuter fee of $1 for every vehicle crossing the Perimeter Highway into Winnipeg that would raise $55 million annually.
The group hopes its alternative budget will become a talking point in the run-up to the Oct. 24 civic election, offering residents and mayoral and council candidates alternatives and options for city planning.
"Talking about the budget is an excellent way to open up discussion for the coming municipal election," Lynne Fernandez, a research associate and project co-ordinator for the Manitoba branch, told a crowd of about 100 people who attended the event.
"If we push candidates to respond to our budget, we can learn more about their ideas, and who knows? We might even get them to adopt some of ours."
Fernandez said the think-tank appreciates how difficult it is to raise taxes in Winnipeg and to consider new ways to doing things, but she said she hoped the alternative budget would help start a dialogue across the community on how best to improve the city for all citizens.
"This is a tough-love budget," she said. "We’ve raised taxes more than the city… (and) we bring in other revenue-raising policies that will begin to deal with some of the problems we face."
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The document, available as a PDF download from the CCPA website, states that Winnipeg was poorly served by the decision of previous councils to freeze property taxes, arguing it left a legacy of crumbling infrastructure and an inability at city hall to pay for services citizens expect.
The alternative budget points to other western cities that have had a series of property tax increases higher than those in Winnipeg, and argues that their residents are better off with modern services and better-maintained roads.
Ian Hudson, an economist at the University of Manitoba who authored the revenue portion of the document, said city hall needs to expand its revenue sources beyond the reliance on property taxes. Imposing other fees can help transform how the city develops.
"The alternative municipal budget would like to start a conversation where the city starts to think about… trying to create a city which is more livable, more active, more healthy," Hudson said, adding the parking lot charge and the commuter fee are two ways to discourage suburban sprawl and pressure the city into reconsidering its practices.
"With these changes, the alternative municipal budget is able to balance the city’s budget, it goes a considerable way to addressing the infrastructure deficit and it moves us towards a more vibrant, sustainable and healthy city."
While the alternative budget proposes increased spending at several civic departments, it targets the Winnipeg Police Service budget for a two per cent ($5.76 million) reduction with the savings redirected to a variety of programs that have been identified as ways to reduce criminal activity.
"We cannot allow the police budget to continue growing, especially because crime rates are decreasing," Fernandez said. "The more the police budget swells, the more other departments’ budgets shrink."
The document proposes indexing officer salaries and benefits, tying them to the average increase of other civic unions. It also recommends that the staffing level of the force be allowed to fall by not replacing officers who retire.
The budget includes an extra $25 million for Winnipeg Transit’s operating budget, as well as hiring an additional 40 full-time equivalent employees for city libraries, restoring staff numbers to 2006 levels.
Other departments that would see additional spending:
• Public works — $37.6M
• Community services — $15.3M
• Planning, property and development — $59.2 million
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 3:08 PM CDT: full write-thru, new headline, adds photo