Council settles on 6.7 per cent tax hike

Brandon City Council has approved a 6.7 per cent property tax increase after multiple failed attempts from councillors to lower the increase at Friday and Saturday’s budget deliberations.

“I think we did what we had to do,” Mayor Jeff Fawcett said after the budget was approved in a 10-1 vote. “Nobody likes the idea of having to raise taxes, but we have to find stability, and somewhere down the line, people will be grateful that we did.”

The 6.7 per cent increase is the figure property owners will actually pay, while the city officially approved a 7.4 per cent increase. The difference is being paid through revenue from growth in the city’s assessment base for new and improved buildings.

Fawcett said council is “doing the right thing” with the hike and that “we’re in a good position going forward.”

Troy Tripp, the city’s finance director, said the 6.7 per cent increase equals a $153 increase for the average home worth $302,500. Owners of an average home would now pay $2,462.

The increase is significantly less than the initial 11.3 per cent increase proposed at the start of the month, of which 10.5 per cent would have actually been placed on property owners.

Three main motions were put forward on Friday and Saturday that were designed to help lower property taxes.

Coun. Glen Parker’s (Ward 9) motion for a one per cent cut to staff salaries was voted down 11-0, and Coun. Greg Hildebrand’s (Ward 5) motion to cut a future police sergeant position was also scrapped.

Late into deliberations on Saturday, Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7) also proposed that the city reduce appropriations by $440,000. That motion was voted down 8-3.

“I mean, it’s good to see that number come down almost five per cent from what it originally was, but it was still a very hard number for me to say, ‘I agree with this,’” said Berry after the meeting.

Berry was the lone councillor to vote against the final budget.

“It just wasn’t a comfortable number for me.”

Desjarlais (Ward 2) said during the meeting that he was shocked to get the tax increase this low, even with a surplus and provincial funding, and that “administration scrubbed the crap out of this budget already.”

“They have cut our reserve, they have slashed where they need to slash,” he said, adding that the city earlier in the day approved the hiring of five new positions.

“It just wasn’t a comfortable number for me.”– Coun. Shaun Barry, who cast the sole vote against the budget.

“I think it’s the wrong message to send to admin, I think they did a really good job getting it to where it needs to be here this year,” Desjarlais said.

Parker, who voted against his own motion after a round of debate, said he was also disappointed on where the increase ended up.

“I would like to have seen it a bit less, but I absolutely respect the position of all of our colleagues and I know administration put a lot of work into it before we got to this point,” Parker said after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Ward 6 Coun. Bruce Luebke said he’s “satisfied” but thought “a point or two” could have been knocked down.

The city’s original 11.3 per cent increase was lowered mainly because council used $1.1 million from a $1.5-million surplus and the province gave the city slightly more than $1 million to fund three projects.

City administration had recommended a 6.6 per cent increase to the budget, 0.1 per cent less than the 6.7 per cent council ultimately approved. The difference mainly consisted of council’s approval for weekly recycling and organic pickup, and the rental of two recycling trucks at a combined cost of $168,000.

Those recycling expenses were approved after some confusion around the council table.

Berry, who has fought for weekly pickup for months, said keeping recycling pickup every week is very important to keep people from throwing their recycling in the garbage as their blue bins are full.

Coun. Shaun Cameron (Ward 4) warned that the weekly pickup is an added strain on the trucks, which for the new rentals could cost the city penalties for overuse when they’re returned.

Desjarlais and Coun. Tyson Tame (Ward 10), both said weekly pickup would be too often, considering how often the trucks are in the shop for repairs.

The motion was initially defeated in a 5-5 tie.

The tie led to confusion over Ward 3 Coun. Barry Cullen, who wasn’t at city hall but appeared online for much of the meeting. His connection wasn’t working during the vote, which is why it ended with only 10 votes cast.

Before the vote, Cullen told another councillor over text that he would vote in favour with Berry. However, acting city clerk Alexis Sukaroff said his text shouldn’t count because Cullen had lost connection during council’s discussion and hadn’t heard the roughly 15-minute debate.

Council, after Cullen rejoined online and with council discussing how to proceed, agreed to revisit the topic, which was then passed 6-5.

A giant Brandon tourism sign was also voted down during Saturday’s meeting at a cost of $610,000. Of that cost, $350,000 would be taken from the accommodation tax reserve, with the plan for the rest of the cost to come from external funding, like grants.

Coun. Heather Karrouze (Ward 1) said using money from the reserve could be seen by some people as “frivolous.”

“We don’t go to Amsterdam because they have a great sign,” Karrouze said. “It can’t be regarded as critical or essential.”

She said she doesn’t know if it’s worth the amount of money it costs.

Hildebrand said he brought the topic forward to bring it “front and centre,” and have a conversation about it. It was voted down 10-1.

During the meeting, council also voted down Brandon Police Service’s request that its 2025 surplus, worth more than $800,000, be given back to BPS for this year. The BPS surplus was included in the entire city’s reported surplus.

Council members also voted down motions and amendments to reduce the money going to reserves.

Other notable changes included council voting in favour of renting two street sweepers during parts of the year, spending an additional $50,000 to add crosswalk signals at existing crosswalks, and voting against the hiring of a booking clerk position that was recommended by administration.

Upgrades to a playground, dog parks and a bus stop were also passed, some using money taken from reserves and the remaining $400,000 surplus. The surplus also went to grants to organizations, including the Community Wellness Collaborative, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Daly House Museum and Helping Hands.

As well, Luebke moved for the construction of a second new outdoor pool to start in 2032, with design in 2031, where the Kinsmen Centennial Pool currently sits at Rideau Park. The motion was approved, although it was largely ceremonial as the project would need to be approved at a future budget.

A primary new outdoor pool is currently in the works, with a potential location at the Keystone Centre, which is currently slated to open in 2028.

The budget is expected to be ratified in April.

» alambert@brandonsun.com