LOCAL VIEWPOINT: Pay attention to the council budget

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/01/2022 (1520 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A few days ago, I was speaking to a reader about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the media’s coverage of politics and government operations.

I pointed out that readership engagement metrics (including website click counting, retweets and Facebook postings of newspaper articles) show that readers have huge interest in COVID-related stories, but far less interest in stories about other things government-related.

The result is plenty of coverage of COVID stories, and plenty of stories about the provincial government, which is primarily responsible for managing the pandemic.

It means the other levels of government — the federal government, city council and school boards — are getting far less attention from the media than they normally receive.

Combine that with the fact governments are doing much of their work through virtual meetings and the result is the public is largely in the dark when it comes to knowing what governments are doing and why they are doing it.

With all of that in mind, it’s budget season for all four levels of government and, because of the pandemic, the media and public will be paying way less attention to the budget-setting process than we normally do.

Bureaucrats love it because it’s far easier to increase spending — and raise taxes to pay for that higher spending — when the public is distracted. In most cases, it is only fear of public anger that keeps the spending under control and the tax increases at reasonable levels.

That is particularly the case for our city council, and that’s why we should be paying attention to what’s happening at city hall right now.

Eight days ago, the Sun reported that Brandon City Council is proposing a 6.9 per cent increase to municipal taxes. That’s a big change compared to last year’s one per cent tax reduction, and the 0.469 per cent increase in 2020.

It’s unlikely the 2022 increase will be 6.9 per cent, but the economic impact of the pandemic and rising inflation will make it hard for many Brandonites to manage any increase. A lot are already struggling to pay their property taxes.

The City of Brandon website has a lot of information about the proposed budget. It is found at https://www.brandon.ca/public-notices-details?var=6262 and https://www.brandon.ca/budget/2022-budget.

The page at the first link has a paragraph that summarizes the draft budget as follows:

“This year’s proposed capital budget includes a lot of improvements for the community, including the multi-year construction of an outdoor field complex, numerous street and sidewalk upgrades, many drainage and storm sewer mitigation projects, transit and airport upgrades, as well as significant updating of the municipal water treatment plant. The proposed operations budget at $93.6 million includes some new programs and services. This year’s operating budget sees significant investment in affordable housing initiatives, investment in downtown and community wellness, as well as an increase in recreational programming and activities.”

That’s a lot of words, but they don’t really help Brandonites assess whether the spending plan is reasonable. The devil is in the details, and that is always the case with government budgeting.

In the case of this budget plan, $132 million appears to be allocated toward capital projects, but both the city website and the Sun report suggest a large portion of that will be paid for from grants from other levels of government.

The Sun report reveals the proposed $132-million figure is more than double the $63.8-million allocation for capital projects in this year’s budget. That’s a huge increase that isn’t mentioned on the city website.

The city website also indicates the proposed operations budget is $93.6 million, but it doesn’t say that is almost $10 million higher than this year. The vast bulk of that is wages, suggesting the city intends to either increase wages substantially or hire a lot more staff. 

That’s just the view from 10,000 feet. When you look more closely, you see a plan to spend $1 million on renovations to the entrance to the Western Manitoba Regional Library branch at The Town Centre. Does that sound like a reasonable expense to you?

Does $14.1 million sound reasonable for the new “outdoor sports complex on Veterans Way”? How about an extra $270,000 for transit, $230,000 more for “urban renewal operations” or $600,000 more for parks operations?

Is it too much or too little? The only way to know is to read the budget documents and ask questions.

Because of pandemic restrictions, there won’t be in-person budget consultations this year. That means city council will receive a lot less public feedback than in previous years, but your voice can still be heard.

Read the documents and, if you have questions or concerns, call your city councillor, any other city councillor, or even the mayor.

Or, do nothing and watch your property taxes go up. It’s your call.

» deverynrossletters@gmail.com

» Twitter: @deverynross