Survey says ... slash spending
Results of public questionnaire come in as council set to weigh 2017 city budget starting next week
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, December 2, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Should the city spend $30,000 on truth and reconciliation training for its staff?
Not if council follows the advice of 70 per cent of respondents to a survey to gather input on the 2017 city budget.
The city's website hosted surveys this month allowing the public to decide whether to fund a list of proposed items such as gear for firefighters or millions of dollars for water and sewer pipe replacement. The survey's default answer was, "No."
Council has already been handed a draft budget that included a proposed 2.55 per cent property tax increase. Some projects in the survey weren't included in the draft budget.
About $9.7 million in proposed spending would be nixed if council were to follow the 77 responses to the short-form version of the survey and 258 responses to the longer, more detailed version.
Projects with a thumbs up ranged from city basics like water, sewer and paving work to creating a jobs program for homeless people, doubling the funds the city gives the Safe Harbour Day Shelter and work to reduce the danger of forest fires.
Items rejected include 50 Street revitalization, a tourism program, traffic lights at the intersection of Kam Lake Road and Finlayson Drive, as well as studies on the possibility of a new library and the source of the city's drinking water.
The results set up a difficult choice for council during budget talks next week: follow the results or go ahead with spending that appears to be unpopular.
Multiple councillors said they would use the information but weigh it against the need to replace infrastructure or needs of residents who may be directly impacted by some projects.
Coun. Adrian Bell stated it's apparent respondents didn't agree on much besides funding the most basic services the city provides. They tended to go against projects that may not directly affect them, such as the proposed traffic light in Kam Lake.
"But residents expect city council to look out for their neighbourhood interests if the need is great enough, as would residents of another neighbourhood if the shoe were on the other foot," Bell stated. "That's part of the balancing act we councillors engage in at budget time."
Coun. Julian Morse noted only a small segment of the population responded, while Coun. Linda Bussey and Coun. Shauna Morgan stated people may not have
had enough information
to understand the
reasons for certain projects.
"That's why it's really important for councillors to do the research and work with administration so we understand the context and we approve projects that will be wise investments," Morgan stated.
Both Morse and Bussey said there are projects that received a high "no" vote that they believe should still go ahead.
Bussey stated she still plans to support expansion of the Lakeview Cemetery for $207,000, a biomass boiler for the Multiplex, Fieldhouse, fire hall, city garage and community services shop costing $1 million in 2017, among others. Morse pointed to projects like expanding centralized composting at a cost of $700,000.
"The city is running out of space at the landfill, and relocation of this facility is going to be enormously expensive," he stated.
"We have to fund waste reduction efforts wherever there's evidence they will extend the lifespan of the landfill."
Councillors will also have to consider mixed messages in the results. Fifty-three per cent said yes to the biomass boiler, a project expected to take several years, while almost the same percentage gave a thumbs down in the short survey.
Almost all of the information technology projects had a negative response. On Monday, councillors heard a thorough 40-minute presentation about the city's IT system from staff.
It also included pitches to council to fund replacements of dated software and for a tool for developing future budgets that's supposed to be easier than what's done now through desktop publishing programs and spreadsheets.
City spokesperson Nalini Naidoo said the presentation was planned before the survey results were known.
The survey was created at the request of council to gather further information in addition to input gathered from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce and a booth at a trade show.
Formerly, the city held a number of public meetings but those suffered from declining turnout.
The city carries out a scientific survey of the city to gauge what issues residents feel are important, Naidoo said. But 64 per cent of survey respondents said no to spending $35,000 on it next year.
Members of the public are expected to provide input Monday evening during a special council meeting at city hall at 7 p.m. Councillors begin going through the budget in detail in public starting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers.
Those meetings could run for several hours each weeknight as needed. The budget is expected to be formally approved Dec. 12.
