Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (June 17/02) - Iqaluit city council approved revised version of its 2002 capital, land and operating budgets last Tuesday. The city is expecting $7.5 million in capital revenue and plans to spend it all.

Projects designated include a $2-million paving project to begin in late July. Road crews will pave Apex Road starting at the fire hall and stopping at the Road to Nowhere -- if the money goes that far.

The city also plans to pave the stretch between Northmart and D.J. Specialities as well as a strip from the four corners intersection to the Government of Canada Building.

The $2 million also includes laying a second layer of asphalt on roads paved last year. An additional $150,000 is designated to improve conditions on secondary roads.

Another 2002 capital project includes $500,000 to begin redevelopment of the solid waste facility. Over time, the city plans to spend several million to replace the infamous dump with a landfill site and waste diversion program.

Construction will take place in 2003.

Also this year, the city will spend $50,000 on a transit feasibility study and $300,000 to increase capacity of the water treatment centre.

Another $2 million is allotted to increase capacity of aging pipes in the Nakasuk school area and hook up 36 buildings to water mains in the lower base of the city.

The city also hopes to get the troubled sewage treatment plant up and running over the next of couple years. The city has already spent more than $7 million on the centre, which has never been used.

When problems arose with the cement structure of the plant, the city hired consultants to figure out how to fix it. The report, due later this month, will offer options for solving the problem. Right now, the city has budgeted $100,000 to begin the process and $2 million more for next year. But this figure isn't set in stone.

"Once that report comes in, we'll have a better grasp of what it's going to take to complete the plant," said Matthew Hough, director of engineering.

The city has yet to decide the fate of another building: the old arena. A public meeting is scheduled for June 24 at the Parish Hall. If the arena remains open, the cost will come from a contingency fund.

So far, the city has no new lots available for developers apart from 13 in the Road to Nowhere subdivision. Councillors are still figuring out whether those lots will be zoned for single- or multi-family units.

Given the current housing crisis, city manager Rick Butler said they will look at possible options for next year, including partnering with the territorial government or private firms.

From 2003 to 2004 the city does plan to spend more than $5 million on two new housing developments.

The city's operating revenue is now budgeted at $13.1 million -- almost $1 million more thanks to higher than expected tax revenue from a growing population.

Emergency services will consume 10 per cent of the city's entire operating budget. Butler said the city will look at ways to cut costs in emergency services, but added that the territorial government must start paying more for them.

Everything considered, the city will not run a deficit or increase taxes. However, an ambitious $65-million, five-year capital plan to complete many other desperately needed projects has been endorsed. Depending on how much money the territory contributes, Iqaluit may go into debt next year or increase taxes pending a plebiscite in the fall.