For the second year in a row, Riverview council is aiming to hold the line on taxes, trim some of its debt load and reduce its debt ratio.
Council began its 2012 budget deliberations yesterday afternoon.
Riverview Mayor Clarence Sweetland said the town spent a few years investing heavily into projects such as Gunningsville Boulevard, the Fundy Chocolate River Station and town hall, and the town must now work on paying back what it owes.
Council made the decision to cut back on its spending this year and it's looking to do the same in 2012.
Director of finance Robert Higson presented council yesterday with a proposed operating budget for 2012 of $23,673,859, a 4.7 per cent increase over 2011.
Under the proposed budget, the residential tax rate will remain the same, at $1.5702 per $100 of assessment. The town's debt level will drop from $31,207,000 to $27,590,000 and the debt ratio from 18.61 per cent to 17.47 per cent.
The specifics may change as council continues its budget talks next week, but Sweetland said council has a clear goal.
"We've reached a point now where we have to pay some of our debts before we can move into any other huge investments," Sweetland said.
The town maintained steady growth in the last year and has seen a 4.35 per cent jump in its tax base, from $1.21 billion to $1.27 billion, which will bring in an additional $827,287 to the town. That good news was followed by Higson acknowledging that the unconditional grant the town receives from the province fell two per cent, or $29,684.
Higson noted that in an effort to keep the town from incurring new debt, more than $3.5 million in projects had been deferred by staff. Capital projects proposed for 2012 total roughly $3.8 million.
Higson, who has been focused on preparing the 2012 proposed budget for several weeks, said preparing the budget wasn't the difficult part.
"The challenge has been to prioritize once we met as a senior management group to determine what should stay in and what could not stay in given the financial constraints that the town is facing," he said.
Should the budget be adopted as it is proposed, Riverview's parks and recreation department would see the biggest hike in spending at 6.1 per cent, from $3,546,590 to $3,763,001.
Administration, which includes various town departments, bylaw enforcement, animal control, the Chocolate River Station, transit services, Riverview Arts Centre, Capitol Theatre and Enterprise Greater Moncton, among outside groups, would move up 5.9 per cent, from $10,065,274 to $10,659,296.
Riverview's payment to Codiac Transpo will jump 17.2 per cent under the proposed budget, from $320,000 to $375,000. It was noted that the transit service's budget jumps every year.
Riverview Fire Rescue's expenses will jump 5.1 per cent under the proposed budget, from $2,578,726 to $2,709,776, and public works will jump 5 per cent, from $3,238,662 to $3,401,583.
Police service costs are out of the hands of the municipality as costs are set by the RCMP. The cost of Codiac RCMP is set to jump 3.15 per cent in Metro Moncton in 2012, from $25,540,849 to $26,344,845. However, because the tri-community is phasing in an amended cost-sharing agreement, and it looks as though the federal government will be providing Metro with a 10 per cent rebate on RCMP costs that nearly every other municipality in the country already receives, Riverview's policing expenses will actually fall 1.2 per cent in 2012, from $3,177,686 to $3,140,203.
While Riverview council hasn't gotten to discussing its utility budget yet, Higson said recent changes to fees from the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission will likely result in Riverview residents paying an additional $20 per year on their water and sewer bill, which totals $714 currently.
Debated at length last night was the fire department's budget. Fire Chief Denis Pleau has requested the hiring of a deputy chief in charge of training for the department. He said there are training shortfalls he would like to correct.
He also noted that Deputy Fire Chief Milt Cawley is currently the only person in town performing fire inspections, which means that only the most critical of buildings, such as daycares and seniors homes, are being inspected regularly.
A new deputy chief would work with Cawley on inspections but also be able to head up critical training issues in the department. With salary and benefits, a second deputy fire chief would cost the town about $95,000 a year, Higson said. A vehicle would also have to be leased for the deputy chief.
Concerns were raised over several items in the department's budget related to overtime costs. The proposed budget for overtime related to medical first responder calls jumped by 100 per cent, from $50,000 to $100,000.
Ward 2 Councillor Ian Macdonald suggested that perhaps rather than spending on overtime, a case could be made that the fire department needs more people working regular hours, which cost less than overtime.
Since Riverview Fire Rescue firefighters serve as medical first responders, they answer all medical calls where lives are considered at risk. If two firefighters head to a medical call, others must be called in to stay at the station to respond to other potential calls.
Pleau noted that there are many times Riverview first responders get to an emergency before Ambulance New Brunswick. The department receives no money from Ambulance New Brunswick or the province for offering first-responder service, and it was suggested that the province should help foot the bill for this service.
Riverview doesn't have to provide the first-responder service, but Pleau said it answers roughly 1,000 potentially life-threatening situations a year, saying he supports providing the service 100 per cent.
"I absolutely believe we've saved lives," the fire chief said.
"Then we can't afford not to have it," said Deputy Mayor Don Lenehan, seemingly putting the issue to rest.
Also discussed last night were concerns about finding tenants to fill the Fundy Chocolate River Station. The town-owned property has four tenants plus a visitor's information centre, but Ganong Chocolates and Olivier Soapery both vacated the building recently.
While portions of the building remain vacant, the town still has to pay to operate the station. The mayor has said a few potential tenants have expressed interest in the location.
Council will resume budget discussions at town hall next Monday at 5 p.m. The sessions are open to the public. Still to be discussed are the engineering and public works, and parks, recreation and community relations budgets, along with capital works plans.
The engineering department is requesting $104,000 for a transportation master plan, along with planning costs for a new public works building.
The parks and recreation department is requesting $80,000 for an active transportation plan and a Mill Creek Town Park plan.
And while many capital works projects have been deferred by senior staff, projects remaining on the proposed capital budget include the next phase of reconstruction to Pine Glen Road ($344,000), Whitepine Road reconstruction between Findlay Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue ($980,000) and the purchase of a zamboni ($100,000).
When last night's meeting wrapped, Mayor Sweetland said he was pleased with how the budget talks were progressing. He gave credit to the town's senior management for creating a proposed budget that met council's strict criteria to lower the town's debt and not raise the tax rate.
"There will be a lot of discussion on this budget before we reach the final conclusion as to where we're going," he said. "But I think we're off to a good start."
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