Four candidates are seeking voter support in Yorkton for the position of mayor.
Yorkton This Week prepared four question for their response. Candidates were provided the questions to submit answers in 200-words or less.
The order has been randomized, and the responses appear in the format and style of the individual respondent to reflect their approach to the question.
The election will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26.
What do you see as the greatest priority for Council over the next four years?
Calvin Tokarchuk
The greatest priority for Council during the next term is rebuilding the trust and faith our Citizens have in the City Council and its employees.
Over the past few terms I feel our community has lost its faith and trust that our council and its employees are making both financial and prioritizing decisions that have been considered questionable and has created a negative atmosphere in the city.
The Council can have the best intentions in its current and future decisions, but if the Citizens do not have trust in them, the needed support of our community to accomplish these decisions will not be there, and we will “all” fail.
Bob Maloney
In light of recent decisions on tax appeals by the Saskatchewan Municipal Board any new council would have to take a very cautious approach to new spending. SMB decisions have had a $700 thousand dollar impact on Yorkton’s revenue.
Until some clarity is brought to the assessment and taxation picture, and our appeal of those rulings, planning for infrastructure improvements will be difficult.
I have been in contact with the Premier, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and our MLA as well as SUMA in regard to this matter.
With that said, streets and roads has always been a priority of this council, a priority that has had to take a back seat to flood control in recent years.
With the retention ponds and the Dracup outfall project wrapping up we will be able to focus on other flooding hot spots and the renewal of our roads. It will be a long term commitment, but one council has already informally approved.
Chris Wyatt
There will be a decrease in the funds available from both the Provincial and Federal governments as the economy remains stagnant. Our revenue sharing agreement with the province is tied to PST revenue, when things were good we received more funding, but when things slow down we will be getting less.
It will be of the utmost importance for Yorkton as a city to manage its spending and to look for savings internally. If we don’t, taxes will keep increasing at 4, 5 or 6 per cent a year.
With the money we can save from our current budgets we can address the infrastructure issues more aggressively. I have proven in my 16 years on council that I have the courage to question spending in all departments with no exceptions and will use that ability to make the necessary changes.
Andrew Probe
The greatest priority for council over the next four years is to gain back the trust of the members of our community. For this to happen the council will have to step up, take responsibility for the mistakes of the past and actually fix something. Council has to stop saying we have no money or we can’t do it. There are problems in the city like flooding and roads that will require money but there are many other issues that have come to my attention since I started running for mayor. Two of these problems are looking into the taxes and looking into providing shelter for the members of our community that have no place to stay at night. These are two problems that I am confident we on council could solve with little money or no money.
Do you foresee annual property tax increases in each of the next four years?
MALONEY: I believe I am an average taxpayer in the city with a bill of $2,614 of that sum $882 goes to public schools. That leaves $1,732 for the city coffers. Divided by 12 months that’s $144 a month for all of the services delivered by the city. Streets, roads, sidewalks, street lights, police, fire service, recreation, snow removal and much more.
If the city is to move forward with flood prevention and work on streets and roads there will be a need to raise the funds necessary for the work. Although climate change is beyond our control we have yet to see other levels of government come to the table with funding to help replace pipes and repair roads.
Because the city is in good financial shape we have the capacity to borrow and put together a bigger paving program in 2017. The assessment of streets and sidewalks has been completed and in the next four years we can make significant progress. Residents of Yorkton have been very supportive of infrastructure work in the past and they have seen the results of that work.
WYATT: Unfortunately there will be annual tax increases over the next four years. It will be my job with the new council to make sure the city is run as efficiently as possible to limit those increases. I would like use the dollars from the savings we find internally to fund increased spending on roads and other infrastructure demands. As the Gallagher centre loans come off the books I would like to use those dollars to start financing new projects like the public works building or the kinsmen arena. There will need to be money put aside for the new hospital as well. We all know we need the building in the next 5-10 years we need to be ready when the time comes to pay our share of the project.
PROBE: Trying to see into the future of taxes is a messy business. With the amount of problems that have been left for the council members, there is a good chance that taxes would have to stay as they are for the time being. One way I would like to look at going about lowering or keeping the taxes as they are, is to bring in new businesses and bring in new residents. We could look at lowering the cost of the developed land around the city. Lowering the cost of the already developed land may not make us a lot of money at the start but right now the land is doing nothing but growing weeds. Weeds don’t pay taxes, new residents and businesses do.
TOKARCHUK: Truthfully, we have a lot of issues that need to be addressed in our city. Some are financial and others are not, without having a true look at exactly where are financial standing is, it would be difficult to say whether tax increases are needed or warranted. That said in the difficult financial times we all live in, it would be in the best interest of our entire community to avoid any tax increases. Over the past few years of talking with very different members of our community, the thought process has always been the same, Taxes are a necessary part of life, that said as long as people know they are being taxed for the right reasons and for the betterment of all, generally most are ok with those decisions.
Do you believe there are significant cost savings which can be made by reviewing City operations?
WYATT: I believe there can be savings in current costs to operate our city if as a council we start running the city more like a business. When I was first voted on to city council we had 99 full time employees. Today we have 179 full time equivalent employees and budgets for even more. I have consistently questioned these costs in ALL departments. These positions cost the city an average of $60,000 per year each. I believe we can reduce positions both through attrition and making changes in departments. I learned through my experience in my former job you can do more with less. When you downsize, all employees need to pitch in and do more, it’s being done in the business world in these tough times why can’t the City of Yorkton do the same? We can and we will need to, the other alternative is to keep raising taxes.
PROBE: I believe there are ways the city can save money if someone is willing to get right down into the paper work and wants to find the savings. If elected that is one of the first things I want to do, go over the budgets. Reviewing the city’s budgets could help keep the taxes where they are but still allow us to fix problems that have been neglected in the past.
TOKARCHUK: In business, there are always ways to save money and ways to utilize current staff and programs, by creating more efficiency and expanding roles by current staff. Money is always a touchy subject, but when asking people to spend up to months worth of their hard earned labor in salary, all they want to know is we are doing our best to use every dollar to the best of its ability, and in my we can definitely do more to do that.
MALONEY: A review of city departments was undertaken by council some time ago. There are fewer people working for the city in 2016 than there were when I took office four years ago. In administration four positions were eliminated in the past two years reflecting a slowdown in the work being done in those departments. That is a 10 per cent cut in administration. We have looked at the fire department, transportation, public library and a variety of other services to see where we can be more efficient. That will continue as it should in any public or private corporation. There are always better ways to do things, and we will continue to look for improvements, but slashing departments and cutting services to residents is not something I would propose. Anyone who proposes big savings should also talk about what services they will cut and how it would affect taxpayers.
I believe the city has made real progress in becoming more focused on providing better service to residents and would advocate for opportunities to make our city attractive to residents, especially seniors who are looking for ways to stay healthy and active.
Are taxpayer expectations too great given the limitations of municipal finances?
PROBE: Expectations too great? No, I don’t think the taxpayer expectations are too great. I think we should be able to have lower taxes and still get things fixed around the city. Poor decisions have put the limitations on municipal finances, spending money on ideas that have done nothing for the city but put big holes in the ground. The people don’t expect anything more than actually getting results when their hard earned money is spent.
TOKARCHUK: I was always taught when you are doing any job that someone else is paying you for, expectations are always high.
I truly believe that that as long as we are open and honest of how tax payers money is being spent, why it’s being spent and give them the opportunity to ask questions of concern, an understanding will be met and a comfort of both our restrictions and expectations can be met. It is also up to the council to be as inventive as possible to create the most opportunity to find new financing.
MALONEY: Everybody wants better roads to drive on and facilities that meet the needs of their families. Yorkton has delivered a host of amenities of which we can be proud, but there is much work to do. I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about infrastructure, but we have a deficit that we must be aware of. We can not ignore the underground system of pipes and sewer lines that twine under the pavement. While we would like to build new arenas and shiny new spray parks the funds are not there. The city began a process of renewal over a decade ago, and we must stay the course, plan for what we can afford and lobby other levels of government to help.
As a full time mayor the biggest job ahead is working with the province and federal government to find a funding formula that will work for small cities. A formula that will take pressure off of our residents and businesses and help us to build for the future. We have added almost 5,000 residents and over 200 businesses in the past five years and keeping that momentum will be a priority.
WYATT: Taxpayers as a whole do not like paying taxes, period! Saying that, when people pay their taxes they want that money spent efficiently and on services that make our city a great place to live. I am a firm believer that when tax dollars are wasted someone needs to be held responsible. We have a city manager and department heads that are paid to ensure that projects are finished on time and done properly. Lately, for numerous different reasons, that hasn’t been happening. I believe that is unacceptable and is definitely one of the reasons you see 24 people running for council and 4 for Mayor. People hold the Mayor and Council responsible for their decisions and the buck stops with us. I will continue to be a voice that questions all departments and demand excellence when your hard earned is being spent.
