While not approving the entire $588-million budget Tuesday, city council did pass a 7.4-per-cent increase in water and waster water rates, which works out to an extra $7.35 a month for people who use 200 cubic metres of water a year.
It's the third year in a row councillors have approved the increase, part of a 10-year plan to have the city's 48,000 water customers bear the burden of maintaining the system.
The 10-year plans are demanded by the province, which requires cities to detail how they are going to make local water works pay for themselves. The size of the increases are largely a result of years of local politicians not preparing to fund the long-term maintenance of the system.
But the hikes each year have raised questions among taxpayers about how long such large increases will be required.
Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti wondered if they could use existing capital reserve funds to reduce the size of the rate hike. And Mayor Brian Bigger wondered whether a 20- or 25-year plan would work, allowing the city to get to sustainability without such large increases.
“How long is this 7.4 per cent going to last?” Bigger said. “Is it too much or too little?”
CAO Ed Archer said the province requires a new long-term plan be prepared this year, and some of the questions about timelines could be part of a report to council in June.
Signoretti wondered whether this year's increase could be delayed until June, but finance committee chair Mike Jakubo pointed out that bills are already going out late because the budget process was delayed by the municipal election.
If they don't pass the water rate, Jakubo said it would create a budget shortfall that would have to be made up somewhere else.
So the the 7.4 per cent was approved for 2019, with a report due in June to include ideas on how to reduce increases in the coming years.
