Three and a half hour meeting kicks off budget discussions
The city’s budget process is underway.
The fiscal plan for 2026 is $178 million, with $119 million from the tax levy.
Council heard from staff Monday night that the levy increase over last year now stands at 4.34%, or $4.9 million.
About 64% is related to service partners.
Much work lies ahead as Council goes through each business unit to arrive at the final numbers.
The committee, meantime, approved two service changes during the three and a half hour meeting Monday night.
They still need final approval.
One increases salt use on more roads, including all bus routes throughout the city, at a cost of $150,000.
Alan Korell, Interim City Engineer, told council the decision was made several years ago to essentially stop the bare pavement policy for collectors and arterial roadways in the city.
“I think it has resulted in a fair bit of extra accidents when you’re talking about safety of the road,” he says. “I think this would be one of the bigger impacts we could have to reduce accidents in the city.”
The other service change involves updating the operating hours at the Waste Diversion Site on Patton Road.
Pending council approval, the new hours be 8 am to 6 pm, Wednesday through Saturday.
“There have been several concerns with high levels of contamination in the bins on Mondays and Tuesdays,” states the budget. “These items include mattresses, furniture, and garbage.”
Officials say Mondays and Tuesdays have been unsupervised since a change in contractor.
Budget talks resume Thursday night with Council’s regular meetings set for Tuesday.
Richard Coffinhttps://www.mynorthbaynow.com/ Richard Coffin has been a reporter and news anchor on the radio in North Bay for over 25 years. From premiers to people in the neighbourhood, he enjoys connecting with newsmakers and writing stories that matter to area listeners on a variety of topics including healthcare, education, politics, sports and more.
