Will council approve this tax increase?

The City of Sault Ste. Marie's finance department is recommending a 2.2 percent tax levy increase for 2015.

That means the owner of an average, detached Sault Ste. Marie home, now valued at $165,700, will pay an extra $51 in property taxes, if the finance department's recommendations are approved by city council at its annual budget deliberations meeting Monday.

The proposed 2.2 percent tax levy increase is, as expected, much lower than the preliminary 4.6 percent presented by the finance department to council earlier this year.

The lower figure is a result of factoring in the Algoma Public Health (APH) levy, the District Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) levy and a surplus of $3,516,847.

The surplus comes from several sources, mostly from payment of corporate back taxes ($1,880,580) and a refund in the city's long term benefit plan for its employees ($1,020,800).

Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer Bill Freiburger's report to council recommends putting $1,935,049 of the surplus money towards reducing the levy, $1,116,644 to additional road resurfacing, $325,154 to pay off the city's share of the cost for the Heritage Discovery Centre and $140,000 to railroad crossing upgrades.

Staff is also recommending a property tax capping of 5 percent for multi-residential, commercial and industrial class properties.

According to a BMA study, Sault Ste. Marie has the lowest taxes for detached bungalows in Northern Ontario, lower than North Bay, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Timmins.

Major recommendations in the report concern the cost of paying for asset management (maintenance and repair of municipal buildings).

The Civic Centre, for example, needs significant repair to its exterior surfacing and windows.

A report prepared for council's April 13 meeting showed the cost for city hall repairs to be between $5.6 million and $6.2 million, with a recommended completion date of no later than 2018, based on a 2014 evaluation of municipal buildings by the firm Morrison Hershfield.

The finance department, in its proposed 2015 budget report, recommends putting $2.7 million towards asset management per year for the next 10 years, for a total of $27 million.

The report suggests using casino slot revenue towards that goal for this year.

It will be up to council to determine if it wants to make a long-term commitment of casino slot revenue towards asset management on a multi-year basis.

Another major item to consider, as always, is road construction.

With nearly $7 million in assistance from the Federal Gas Tax and Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, the city will pay out over $7 million for road construction and repair.

The city's 2015 road construction program includes work to be done on Second Line widening, Bay Street, Huron Street, McMeeken Street, Upton Road, bridge and aqueduct work as well as other road resurfacing.

There are also several supplemental funding requests for council to consider Monday.

One of them includes a request for $15,000 in ongoing, annual funding for the MS Norgoma, until council comes up with a plan and funds to remove the vessel.

Departmental funding requests include one from Public Works and Transportation for snow removal on the John Rowswell Hub Trail ($182,050 to begin with, $64,510 on-going) and $30,000 in ongoing funding to fight emerald ash borer infestation of trees on municipal property.

Engineering and Planning has two requests, one of which is for an ongoing $50,000 increase for the Environmental Initiative Committee budget.

The Community Services Department is asking for Northern Community Centre indoor golf netting at a cost of $40,000, another $615,000 for other Northern Community Centre improvements and $25,000 for a splash park.

There are other corporate requests for a commitment of $27,895 annually for four years to Crime Stoppers and $50,000 annually for the next four years for the Healthy Kids Community Challenge.

The budget report shows the city's total long-term debt as of December 31, 2014 was at $10,205,146, the city's lowest debt level since before 1996.

The city's credit rating has been revised from A plus (stable) to A plus (positive) by Standard and Poor's.

A lower value of building permits is anticipated for 2015, therefore low growth is expected.