Lethbridge city council approves operating budget, $1M LPS cut goes through

“It was a long week and Finance Committee had some very difficult decisions to make,” said Councillor Rob Miyashiro, chair of the Operating Budget Review committee. “Budgets are usually added to, not taken away from. What we did for the community is unprecedented. This budget understands our current economic reality and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and builds in the financial flexibility we need to respond to those challenges.”

Prior to the final vote on the operating budget, two amendments were proposed.

One would see a rejection of the recommendation to cut the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) budget by $1-million while the other would have city council take a five per cent pay cut instead of the planned 10 per cent reduction.

The one for police funding was defeated 3-6, meaning the budget cut will go ahead.

In favour (cancel the planned cut): Mayor Chris Spearman and Councillors Ryan Parker and Joe Mauro
Opposed (maintain the planned cut): Councillors Jeffrey Coffman, Belinda Crowson, Rob Miyashiro, Mark Campbell, Jeff Carlson

The motion to reduce the pay cut city council would face was defeated unanimously. This means a 10 per cent reduction for city councillors’ salary will go ahead.

Full details on the new operating budget can be found here. Below are just some of the operating budget highlights.

Property Taxes:

Council has approved what works out to be a zero per cent increase in residential property taxes for the next two years.

There will be a 1.4 per cent reduction in tax rates in 2021 and a 1.4 per cent increase in 2022, meaning it would effectively be cancelled out over that period.

You might still see a change in your tax bill due to a change in property assessment, for new construction or demolition, or an increase to the provincial Green Acres Foundation budget or the Alberta School budget.

Corporate Budget:

The city will reduce spending by $2.1-million in 2021 and $2.5-million in 2022.

This will primarily be achieved through a corporate-wide five per cent reduction in 2021 and 10 per cent in 2022.

There are several initiatives under this category, including:

Improving the efficiency of the management system within fleet services
Decrease in the annual planning requisition
Only performing one annual window cleaning in identified facilities in the spring
Introducing paid parking at the ENMAX Centre
Reduction to food inventory and costs at the ENMAX Centre kitchens
Reduce animal control enforcement on stat holidays by only having an on-call animal control officer on duty

Police Funding:

Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) will see an overall budget reduction of $1-million in 2021 and 2022.

The police commission will report back to council on how they will achieve these savings prior to February 28, 2021.

Mayor Chris Spearman told council that LPS currently has a budget surplus of $275,000, although they are planning to use that for a pilot project for the use of body cameras on officers.

Funding will continue on an ongoing basis for Community Peace Officers, The Watch, and Police and Crisis Team (PACT) programs. This will have no further impacts on tax rates.

311 Customer Service:

Through a reduction in travel and training expenses, the budget for Lethbridge 311 will be cut by five per cent.

The goal is to be able to find savings without negatively impacting staffing levels.

311 will see a reduction of $17,300 in 2021 and $17,300 in 2022.

Transportation:

Several funding reductions have been approved in this area, including:

$56,000 in 2021 and $56,000 in 2022 for annual slope repairs/monitoring and other transportation administration costs
$55,000 in 2021 and $55,000 in 2022 for property acquisitions for rights of way and cleanup of existing right of way issues. These include sidewalk repairs, pathway repairs, and bridge maintenance
$135,000 in 2021 and $135,000 in 2022 to consolidate a number of areas in traffic operations and traffic signals
$200,000 in 2021 and $200,000 in 2022 for road and sidewalk repairs
$285,000 in 2021 and $285,000 in 2022 for core street sweeping

Lethbridge Transit:

A new Transit On Demand system will be created, which will allow riders to book their trips online.

“The program reduces the need for conventional transit, and services low ridership areas with an efficient on call system.”

This will mean a savings of $353,000 in 2022.

Facility Services:

The budget will see a reduction in the cleaning service schedule in all administrative buildings except for the downtown Transit Park N Ride terminal.

This will result in a reduction of $282,000 in 2021 and $282,000 in 2022.

Parks:

There will be a reduction in general maintenance in open space across the city, including efforts to maintain water quality in storm ponds, graffiti abatement, snow clearing, irrigation operations, and forestry management.

This will be a reduction of $198,500 in 2021 and $198,500 in 2022.

Utilities:

Council voted to implement tipping fees for disposing of contaminated soils at the Waste and Recycling Centre.

This is meant to generate $324,000 in 2021 and $324,000 in 2022.

by David Opinko

Lethbridge city council approves operating budget, $1M LPS cut goes through

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