Thunder Bay City Council tentatively approved its 2020 budget, taking the proposed tax levy increase to 1.89% after growth.
There is still a post-budget deputation meeting this upcoming Monday, and Councillors can make more changes before finalizing the document on the following Monday, February 10th.
During the nine-hour meeting, City Councillors reduced the budget by $737,300 to get to that figure. They also shifted almost $250,000 from other areas into the capital budget for infrastructure maintenance and restoration.
That was done through a list of motions from Councillor Mark Bentz, who spoke earlier this week about his wish to chip away at the $22-million infrastructure deficit.
Another one of the changes approved at Wednesday night’s meeting was a pause on hiring any non-essential city staff until the Program and Service Review is completed in June.
Some high-profile items were left alone, however, including the city’s public libraries and the Centennial Botanical Conservatory.
Council ultimately rejected a $50,000 reduction to their contribution to the Thunder Bay Public Library, and did not pass a motion to close down the Conservatory to save $157,000. However, a report on the Conservatory is coming back in March.
Library staff, including their union CUPE Local 3120 and members of OPSEU, picketed outside City Hall before the meeting to protest any possible cuts to their funding.
City Administration’s list of proposed cuts also included weekend residential street and sidewalk plowing, but those were not touched either.
Councillors shrank the budget by $100,000 which means they will not replace one of their corporate managers.
