Lauren McKeon
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 19, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City residents will be paying 3.93 per cent more in taxes in 2009.

Council voted to adopt the 2009 draft budget on Monday which, aside from this year's tax increase, predicts another 12 per cent increase over the following two years.

Paul Falvo was the only councillor to vote against the budget, saying a tax increase could have been avoided.

"I believe we can be a lot more frugal," he said, bluntly adding councillors need to be "cheapskates."

Falvo brought forward an amendment for further cost-cutting measures, such as reducing funds for new library collection items and not purchasing a colour photocopier for the city's capital update.

The amendment failed, however, with the majority of councillors saying each line item in the budget had already been debated during more than 10 hours of deliberations last week.

"I don't feel it's a good idea to reopen the can of worms," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy.

"Ten hours is not a lot of time (considering) the importance of what's at stake here," responded Falvo.

Council was able to reduce the tax increase from 4.75 per cent and most councillors were satisfied they did their best without compromising services.

"The resulting tax increase is certainly not frivolous," said Coun. Shelagh Montgomery, adding that funds collected go toward things such as city projects and community groups.

Kennedy said it was "deceptively easy" to vote against the budget and be seen as a "fiscal hawk," knowing other councillors would take the responsible route and pass the budget - and take the flack that comes with it.

He added he was not pointing fingers at any particular councillor. While Falvo was the only councillor to vote against the budget, both Coun. David Wind and Coun. Dave McCann said more could have been done.

"I'm not really thrilled at the result we were able to achieve," said Wind, who added he was still concerned about the proposed tax hikes for 2010 and 2011, which both sit around six per cent.

"Surprisingly, this year I find myself thinking maybe it's not too bad," said McCann, adding city hall needs to adopt a culture of innovation to increase efficiencies.

Most councillors also thanked city administration, who brought forward possible areas to cut costs during the budget deliberations.

"(I give) a heartfelt thank-you to administration for guiding us and identifying a lot of savings," said Coun. Mark Heyck, echoing the sentiments of other councillors.