Council approves 2.92 tax levy increase

Undoubtedly one of the most difficult duties councillors have to carry out wrapped up for another year Monday evening as they adopted the 2012 Operating Budget.

First and foremost, taxes went up 2.92 percent, and council feels generally the city is presenting a good overall and fair levy increase to maintain levels of infrastructure and services.

“I think that this year the budget was particularly challenging in a lot of areas,” says Deputy Mayor Peter Chirico.

While extensive in its detail, Chirico was quick to point out some will see no increases in their bills as well as some larger and smaller.

This year, approximately 11,000 households will stay the same as they were last year with continued investment in infrastructure valued at approximately $1.3 million.

3,000 residential homeowners will have their taxes cut by $100 this year while 3,000 will see their taxes go up by $100 based on their assessment.

“The city is seeing assessment growth, we're seeing some $400,000 dollars that's offset against this year's tax levy, which has kept or reduced the tax levy for the majority of taxpayers in the city of North Bay,” says Chirico.

“But overall, I'm very pleased to see the budget.”

Chamber of Commerce President John Strang agrees with council's decision and sees the increase as a fair and good level of reinvestment for the city.

He says the Chamber has been following the process since December and has stated from the beginning that they wanted to see the levy come in at no more than the cost of living.

"Could it be lower? I guess that it always could be," Strang admits.

Realizing there's an infrastructure shortage happening in the city, Strang says that the Chamber supports the infrastructure spending but wants to make sure that the agencies, boards and commissions are realizing savings as well, wherever they can.

“We're looking for efficiencies and we've challenged them to bring in subsequent budgets at or close to zero but overall, we're pleased with the direction of the budget.”

During budget discussions some councillors, in their comments, pointed to mistakes of the past now beings reckoned with tax increases on the future generations.

It's interesting to note as well that many councillors have heard from constituents requesting services and infrastructure around the city while the general sentiment is they pay enough that those services ought to be in a community with this level of taxation.

Chircio says it's very easy to defer payment onto the next generation.

“We're dealing with those realities today and I think that we're dealing with it within our means as a municipality with that continued look for an increased investment in our communities,” he says.

Strang concurs.

“The infrastructure shortage has to be fixed, we can't leave it for the next generation, we have to make the fixes now because we're looking at attracting new business, we're looking at keeping costs lower.”

“In previous councils, it wasn't tackled as aggressively and I think that the council's on the right path.”

When pressed about the issue of tax increase fatigue in an ever expanding economic downturn, Strang admittedly said no one likes to see increased taxes but it seems necessary to maintain current levels of infrastructure.

As part owner of a successful taxi service for the past 6 years, Strang knows this all too well.

“As a resident of the city, I can't tell you the dollars I've spent fixing cars,” he says.

Generally speaking, council has done a good job with the complex budget situation, balancing past, current and future infrastructure demands at a reasonable rate.

However, one must be mindful of reports of increasing averages in household indebtedness that no doubt is prevalent within North Bay and the rest of the country.

“As a general taxpayer, I don't like to pay any more than I have to," says Strang.

"But as long as the city is looking for efficiencies every year, we'll continue to support the Capital budget."

With regards to the ongoing Global economic crisis, Strang says that the Chamber has given their recommendations to council.

"We look at Greece and at different areas of Europe, the public sector, the private sector, there's a general widening of the gap there and we're concerned about that," he says.

Chirico says that council and the city must remain cognizant at to what's happening outside city walls.

"When you look at outside influences such as the overall global economic meltdown and seen the continuation of the same but at the same time we've seen some bright lights within the city of North Bay and that's the result of some continued investment that we've done over the years," he says.

"City staff has done an excellent job of rallying to our cries as council to bring us a budget that it is fair, that considers the investment in our future and that's one thing that this council hasn't shyed away from."