City Staff Present ‘Status Quo’ Budget For 2020

The chair of Saint John’s finance committee says he cannot promise there will not be cuts in next year’s budget.

Committee members viewed the first draft of what is described as a “status quo” budget Wednesday night.

It is the last year the city will get “new deal” funding from the province to help address its structural deficit.

Coun. David Merrithew said if there are cuts, they will not be as drastic as what is possible after 2020.

“If there are no further funds out of this agreement, then [the cuts] will be dramatic,” Merrithew told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting.

“You will see closures of facilities and so on, there’s no question.”

The proposed $166.2-million operating budget includes nearly $8.1 million in temporary financial assistance from the province, which had committed up to $10.4 million for 2020.

It takes into account about $750,000 in savings and revenue found as part of the sustainability report. The city anticipates $440,000 of new revenue from the accommodation levy and a $312,000 reduction in property tax for the transit facility.

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City staff said there are several items which could impact the draft budget, including property tax revenue from Service New Brunswick, any changes to the unconditional grant, the realignment of economic development agencies, and continuous improvement initiatives implemented for 2020.

“In my mind, status quo doesn’t do it for us, but no one is suggesting it does,” said Mayor Don Darling.

“I think throughout the next number of weeks and months and as we end up in December, we’ll have had lots of deliberations I’m sure, lots of tough discussions about a budget that reflects our reality and the gap that we’ve been left with.”

Merrithew said he is also not happy with the status quo. He would like to see more improvement on the revenue side and not so much in the way of cuts.

He suggested the city could introduce user fees on ballfields, similar to what has been done recently with rinks.

Merrithew says council has begun looking at proposed cuts for 2021, but it could be some time before the details are made public.

“I suspect it won’t be until very late this fall or early next year,” he said.

Committee members will get a more in-depth look at the budget in the coming weeks before receiving the second draft in early November and the final draft in early December. Council is expected to receive the final draft for approval on Dec. 16.