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Deeper dive: Addressing local taxpayers’ budget priorities

The City of Greater Sudbury released their proposed 2023 budget last week, so Sudbury.com dug deep to find out how it stacks up against the municipal services residents deemed the most important in a recent survey
220222_downtown-sudbury-aerial
Downtown Sudbury from the air.

With Greater Sudbury residents’ municipal priorities established, how does what the city has proposed stack up?

Sudbury.com dug through the proposed 2023 budget document and recent public survey results to find out. We also connected with city Corporate Services General Manager Kevin Fowke and Growth and Infrastructure General Manager Tony Cecutti to make better sense of some of certain numbers that stick out.

A public survey about city services was open from Nov. 1 to Dec. 6, 2022, during which time contributors filled out 872 copies. City services they determined important were, in order:

  • Winter maintenance (85 per cent)
  • Road maintenance and construction (85 per cent)
  • Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater (81 per cent)
  • Emergency Services (80 per cent) 
  • Garbage and Recycling (74 per cent) 

These were followed by Recreation Programs and Facilities (63 per cent), Long-term Care - Pioneer Manor (60 per cent), Economic Development (60 per cent), Social Services (57 per cent), Communications and Engagement with Residents (47 per cent), Transit (40 per cent), and Libraries and Museums (34 per cent)

The following is how the city’s proposed 2023 budget tackles each of the top five areas of municipal operations the public has deemed important.

The business cases cited were drafted by city administrators at the request of city council and have not been factored into the city budget as proposed. If approved, each business case’s associated expense or cost savings/avoidance will alter the 3.7-per-cent tax increase currently tabled, unless alternate funds are used (such as reserves).

Winter maintenance

The city’s winter maintenance budget is proposed to increase from $22.4 million to $24.2 million in the 2023 budget, though city administrators wanted it to increase by an additional $500,000.

City administration cut $500,000 from what was initially proposed as part of an effort to shave $17.8 million from the city’s budget to hit the 3.7-per-cent maximum tax increase the previous city council directed them to achieve.

In doing so, the city is taking on additional financial risk, Cecutti said, adding they’ll do what they need to do in order to keep city streets and sidewalks clear of snow and ice to city standards regardless of what the set budget is.

The increase was inflation driven, with no service adjustments made. As such, it’s proposed that next season’s winter maintenance efforts will be the same as those residents are currently seeing. 

A review of the city’s winter sidewalk maintenance service standards is currently being drafted by city administration, and is expected to be released for city council consideration by the end of June. 

A business case calls for the installation of two road weather information systems to provide the city with real-time information on road conditions, including atmospheric and pavement temperature, wind information, rain and snow accumulation, as well as live video. The systems would carry a 2023 tax impact of $223,060 (0.07-per-cent levy increase).

Although separate from the city’s 2023 budget, Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre introduced a successful motion during the Jan. 24 city council meeting to have the city look into tracking its winter control machinery online, so residents can better predict when their roads will be plowed. A municipal report on the program’s potential is expected by the end of September.

Road maintenance and construction

The 2023 roads budget includes $50.6 million worth of “capital investments in road construction and repair to maintain the city’s transportation network.”

This is an almost 20 per cent drop from the $62.6-million roads budget in 2022, though Fowke cautioned against making too much out of the budget reduction.

The same could be said for this year’s proposed capital budget (which includes roads), which fell to $154.6 million from last year’s $204.6 million — a $50-million drop. 

A lot, but not all of it, has to do with accounting, with larger projects’ capital budgets spread unevenly across multiple years, and senior levels of government sporadically funding projects.

The Greater Sudbury Police Service’s capital budget came in late so wasn’t included as part of this year’s $154.6-million capital budget total, which is expected to bump it a bit higher.

The city’s annual contributions to its capital budget are projected to be $84.54 million in 2023 ($46.78 million from the tax base and $37.76 million from user fees), which Fowke said has been increasing steadily for the past several years. The city’s 2022 contributions to the city’s capital budget totaled $78.57 million. 

But why was there a drop in the city’s roads budget despite an increase in tax base and user fee contributions to the capital budget?

It all has to do with the city’s strategic objectives and capital prioritization process.

“There’s probably a slightly richer mix of facilities and some equipment in emergency services than there has been in prior years, but it doesn’t mean we don’t think roads are important,” Fowke said. “The trend is very clear that we’re continuing to increase investments into roads.”

In the event city council determines $50.6 million isn’t adequate, they can always boost it, as they did in April 2022 when they added $6 million from reserves to rehabilitate additional stretches of road.

The city’s five-year average roads expenditure is $35 million, and the city needs to spend at least $80 million per year to maintain roads in their current overall state of “fair” condition. At the current rate of investment, they’ll degrade to “poor” by approximately 2030.

A few business cases propose additional road work in 2023, including ones that call for:

  • The reconstruction of Fielding Road along with water and wastewater improvements, with various options for the project tabled.
  • A $3-million hot-in-place asphalt road rehabilitation project.
  • A roads and transportation asset management plan, which is a provincial legislative requirement by 2025.

City administration has also recommended an additional tax increase of 1.5 per cent ($4.5 million) in the form of an accelerated capital renewal levy to help close in on the infrastructure funding gap. If approved annually, its compounding effect would be $76 million in five years and $290 million in 10 years. 

A full breakdown of proposed 2023 roads projects can be found on Page 391 of the budget document.

Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater

The city has proposed an increase of 4.8 per cent to total water/wastewater rates in 2023, which is on par with the increase approved during 2022 budget deliberations.

It’s also in keeping with the city’s long-term financial plan, which recommends annual rate increases of 4.8 per cent over the next 20 years. These annual increases have been taking place since 2020. From 2016-19, the annual rate increase was 7.4 per cent.

The impact of a 4.8 per cent rate increase on a homeowner who uses 200 cubic metres of water per year would be $70.65 per year, bringing their 2023 total to $1,532.76.

“A significant portion of water and wastewater rates in any municipality are directed to capital projects to upgrade and repair the plants and water and wastewater mains that treat, distribute and collect water and wastewater,” according to the budget.

As previously reported, the city’s aging pipes are leaking beyond targeted maximums. 

This year will see the city complete the installation of smart water meters, alongside various other infrastructure projects (listed on Page 195 of the budget document).

A business case calls for ongoing revisions to the city’s Water and Wastewater Master Plan and Asset Management Plan.

Emergency Services

The Greater Sudbury police board unanimously approved a 5.66-per-cent budget hike, which includes the hiring of 10 additional sworn members this year toward a total of 24 within three years.

The budget also includes the return of the Citizens on Patrol program on a limited basis, and the hiring of two special constables to work the Greater Sudbury Police Service front desk, which frees up two officers to work the front line on patrol.

City council has the opportunity to vote for or against the budget total, which they can send back to the board for potential reconsideration in the event they disagree.

Although much has been said about a report calling for the amalgamation of fire/paramedic stations, the 2023 budget doesn’t propose anything immediate on that front.

A business case requests two additional 12-hour ambulances, seven days per week toward frontline paramedic operations, which would represent an additional 24 hours of vehicle coverage daily.

The boost would increase daily staffing hours during each 24-hour period to 528 from its current 480, and the new ambulances would be deployed within the city core.

It would result in a 2023 budget increase of just greater than $1 million (a 0.33 per cent tax levy increase).

Garbage and recycling

The 2023 budget doesn’t propose any big changes to the city’s garbage and recycling program that will affect the average user.

The Environmental Services budget is proposed to drop by two per cent to $14.67 million, and will maintain the same 26 full-time positions and 15,478 part-time hours as last year.

Work will be done on Azilda and Hanmer landfill site covers, the city will continue to shut down the Dowling and Dryden hauled sewage sites (closed in 2015), a west perimeter road will be constructed at the Sudbury Landfill site, a sprinkler system upgrade will be installed at the Recycling Centre, the Solid Waste Management Plan will be worked on, and the aging scales at the Sudbury Landfill will be rehabilitated.

A business case has been submitted for the creation of a mattress diversion program to shift mattresses and box springs to a private recycling facility at a cost of $425,000 (0.14-per-cent tax levy impact).

The city hosted the first of two online budget 2023 information sessions on Wednesday, and has another scheduled to take place on Feb. 6 beginning at 6 p.m.

The city’s elected officials are slated to begin debating the budget during a series of meetings commencing Feb. 15, and approve Greater Sudbury’s operating and capital budget on March 7.

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.


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Tyler Clarke

About the Author: Tyler Clarke

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
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