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Preliminary city budget proposes to hike your property taxes

$181 million operating budget would increase property taxes by 3.05 per cent
2019-09-13BrdwlkClosedDT-02
Fixing erosion damage on the boardwalk is expected to add $1.5 million to the 2020 municipal budget. Darren Taylor/SooToday

Sault Ste. Marie City Council will begin deliberations Monday on its 2020 operating and capital budgets.

A preliminary operating budget prepared by city staff based on maintaining existing services  calls for a 3.05 per cent tax increase.

The lion’s share of that - 2.04 per cent - is attributed to levy and local boards outside the city’s jurisdiction.

Half of the city’s 2020 spending will be for salaries and benefits, which will be up almost $1 million over last year.

This will be the first municipal budget for Malcolm White, the city’s new chief administrative officer.

“All of these endeavours can be accomplished with a budget that maintains Sault Ste. Marie’s position of having the lowest and most affordable property taxes amongst Northern Ontario municipalities,” White says.

Preliminary budgets are traditionally whittled down by City Council during the budget process.

The proposed 2020 capital budget totals $67.7 million, including:

  • $18 million for road work
  • $1.5 million to repair erosion damage to the waterfront boardwalk caused by high water levels
  • an $850,000 fire truck replacement
  • $4.6 million in transit improvements including replacing five buses, two parabuses, fareboxes, transit shelters, two new community buses and a new vehicle for the transit supervisor
  • $126,500 for traffic cameras on Bay Street
  • $200,000 worth of lighting upgrades at GFL Memorial Gardens
  • $500,000 for planning for the downtown plaza
  • $101,250 for concrete repairs to the Memorial Tower

Road improvements scheduled for 2020 include widening Black Road from McNabb to Second Line, a Trunk Road connecting link, as well as rebuilding Sixth Avenue from Wallace Terrace to Devon Road and Second Avenue from Connaught to Second Line.

Staff are recommending drawing up to $2.3 million from municipal reserves.

Further budget meetings are scheduled for Dec. 9 and 10.

Tax rates will be set in March and April of 2020.

The preliminary budget to be presented to city councillors on Monday includes the following comments about economic conditions:

Sault Ste. Marie’s economy has struggled over the last several years but it is expected that manufacturing will turn around in 2020. Algoma Steel is in the middle of a $300 million modernization drive that includes the construction of a second ladle metallurgy furnace that will produce a further 100,000 tons a year of advanced-grade steel.

With the help of a $16-million contribution from the federal government, Tenaris Algoma Tubes Inc. is upgrading its local seamless pipe mill operations, which will allow it to spur as many as 90 full-time jobs.

The 2019 Mid-Sized Cities Outlook estimates Sault Ste. Marie’s manufacturing sector to post one more year of declining output before stabilizing with 0.1% growth in 2020 with these local investments.

The construction sector has been volatile over the past few years. Housing starts are estimated to be on an upward trend, though still not at the 2014/15 levels.

Unsold inventory levels have remained around three or four units for the last few years, a level that does not inhibit new construction.

A fractional population increase is estimated in 2020 with Sault Ste. Marie being selected as one of 11 cities to take part in the federal Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program. The plan will attempt to increase immigration to fill the labour gaps created by population aging.

Economic conditions influence service affordability as well as the competitiveness to attract future growth opportunities to the community. They also provide insight into the municipality’s ability to generate revenue relative to the demand for public services.

Overall the Conference Board of Canada Mid-Sized Cities Report (September 6, 2019) expects modest growth in 2020 for Sault Ste. Marie, continuing the area’s five-year trend.

While output growth is modest, employment gains have been strong over the last few years. The report estimates that the unemployment rate will fall to 4.8 per cent in 2019 and drop to 4.6 per cent in 2020. The factors reflected in this report are intended to provide a guideline for the budget direction.

Monday’s City Council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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