Property taxes are likely to increase in Yorkton again in 2018.
Monday the public was given its first look at the City’s operating and capital budgets as they were unveiled at the regular meeting of City Council. While the twin budgets were not passed Monday, instead being tabled until Council’s Feb. 20 meeting, the proposal is for a 4.55 per cent increase in tax revenue for 2018. The increase includes a 2.77 per cent increase for capital projects and a 1.78 per cent hike for operational expenditures.
On the operations side of the equation police and fire services combine for just more than 30 per cent of the overall operating budget. Public works fall in at just shy of 18 per cent, and then administration and bylaws is next at just under 14 per cent.
Recreation, which combines the library, Deer Park Golf Course, the Gallagher Centre and parks is at about 23 per cent.
Of the top areas it will be administration many taxpayers point fingers at.
You will not have to listen too hard in coffee shops in the coming days to hear suggestions there are too many city managers making too much money.
It would do the local administration well if they were to do a comparison with other cities to quell some of the near automatic concern pointed their way whenever taxes go up.
Others will point to particular lines within a $50 million budget and wonder why so much is earmarked for parks and recreation, grass cutting, or the cost of signage proposed in a year. While it is important to keep an eye on the line-by-line budget one has to determine who that watchdog should be.
It is easy to see certain councillors bring isolated areas of expertise to council, but it is impossible to expect the collective Council to know if any single expenditure is essential or not, and if the associated cost is reasonable or bloated. To expect councillors to know if a budget line is $5,000 too much, or a bargain is too much to ask. It is beyond the knowledge scope of anyone unless you have the broadest of backgrounds.
That is why Councils hire department managers, people with the expertise in a given area; public works, recreation, administration. If Council arrives at a point where they question every budget line it is likely a point where the trust of management has been lost and changes need to be made.
In this case the 4.55 per cent appears unpalatable in the face of last year’s huge increase, but does that mean changes are needed?
We elect people we are supposed to trust to do a good job, and in the most recent municipal election voters made rather sweeping changes with five new faces on Council as it was clear the electorate wanted change.
If were accept that voters elected good people they trusted to make some changes for the better then 18-months into their term we should trust they are satisfied with their staff or changes would have been made by now.
Collectively this edition of Council was satisfied with the initial numbers released Monday (see related story Page A1), which leaves the community with the question of whether they trust the numbers are as lean as they could be and still meet the demands of Yorkton’s citizens.
Taxpayers can go online to the City of Yorkton webpage to determine which side of that debate they are on.
It will be interesting to see how long the line is Feb. 20, to speak before Council on the pros and cons of the numbers that have been laid out.
