Thunder Bay Expressway (CC)
The Mayor is set to table a budget reduction measure next week.
Bill Mauro indicates he met with provincial officials, including the Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, to discuss spending $150,000 on an updated environmental assessment for the Northwest Arterial, which is an extension of Wardrope Avenue to connect the Thunder Bay Expressway.
The measure was actually part of the original 40 recommendations from administration to help council save about $2.6 million.
“[Mulroney] confirmed for me, I’d say about 90 per cent, that we don’t have to spend the money on the environmental assessment. You don’t have to have the Northwest Arterial built before you can start work on the Thunder Bay Expressway,” Mauro indicates. “I’ll likely bring it back during the February 2nd meeting. It’s a bit of catch-all meeting that we have at the end of the budget session before we ratify where anybody can bring anything back from previous evening
The Municipal Tax Levy before and after growth remains below two per cent. Thursday's session, which lasted just over two hours, saw the levy remain u.
Council eyes savings as it trims tax levy
Thunder Bay s city council looks to rein in tax levy, financial toll of COVID as it begins tweaking 2021 budget
Jan 20, 2021 2:42 AM By: Ian Kaufman
Updated
Councillors will need to make tough choices in the 2021 budget, McKellar ward councillor Brian Hamilton argued Tuesday. (File photo)
THUNDER BAY – City council focused on finding savings in the 2021 municipal budget Tuesday, wrangling the proposed tax levy hike below 2 per cent before growth.
In the first of four budget review sessions that will run into February, councillors debated just how far the city should go to trim tax hikes and protect its financial reserves, as it faces down millions in COVID-19 costs.
The city estimated the Municipal Accommodation Tax will be down by 30 per cent compared to 2019, which means $1.15 million less will get transferred to the Indoor Turf Facility Reserve Fund.
One of the largest external budgets that council is not directly responsible for is the city s police service, which has a $47 million budget. For 2021, an increase of $1.2 million is requested, mainly because of $803,000 in wage increases.
Two major projects are also slated for Thunder Bay Transit, including a transit hub, and two new Lift Plus accessible buses. Costs associated with the project will address outdated infrastructure and hub configuration that is not consistent with current transit stop/station standards, operational and community needs, the budget noted. Discussions on a new transit hub have been ongoing for eight years.
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