FACT FILE:
Advertising costs by department (thousands of dollars)
	1996	1997	1998 budget
Legislative	8.2	6.5	5.0
City Clerk	80.1	80.0	80.0
Economic Dev.	21.0	20.0	15.0
Human Resources	14.4	20.0	15.0
Municipal Enforcement	1.0	2.0	2.0
Community Services	14.5	15.3	17.3
Total	139.2	143.8	129.3
Skyline costs	0	16.2	31.0

by by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 12/97) - Next year's budget figures poke holes in arguments advanced in favor of Skyline, but council wants to breath new life into city hall's public newsletter.

Though a small part of the city's budget, the monthly letter came under fire during the municipal election. Some candidates and residents said it was a waste of tax dollars.

At an all-candidates forum, resident Lorne McKiel called Skyline "a great waste of taxpayer's money." McKiel said "all the information in it appears in the local newspaper or in the city's rec guide."

But during a review of the 1998 budget, city administrator Doug Lagore said Skyline was saving the city money.

"By bringing Skyline in, our advertising costs have come down," said Lagore. "We're not expending more money, we're just expending money in a different way."

Under budget because of lower-than-expected production costs, the newsletter is expected to cost a total of $16,200 this year.

But according to figures in the 1998 budget, city advertising costs went up in 1997, the first year Skyline went into production.

Excluding irregular costs of advertising for elections and plebiscites, the city is projecting it will spend $143,800 on advertising by the end of this year. It spent $139,200 on advertising the year before it started producing Skyline.

Lagore said an unusually large number of special events, such as the series of future focus forums and workshops, account for the difference. He added that 1995 would provide a better comparison.

But with no advertising costs for the economic development department or Gerry Murphy Arena, the same advertising costs in 1995 were far lower than 1996, totalling $94,600.

During debate of the general operating fund, council recommended the budget for Skyline be increased by $10,000 to $31,000.

"It's a good technical paper, in that it explains how things work, but there was a feeling people also wanted some analysis," said Ald. Blake Lyons.

Speaking of council's commitment to keep the public more informed of city business, Ald. Bob Brooks said, "If you're going to go along with that, you want as many vehicles as possible available to you."

The extra $10,000 will be used to pay a writer to include more editorial-style content in the paper, he said.

A final decision on Skyline and all budget matters will be made Monday night, starting at 6 p.m.