Budget trimming politics gear up

Now that the bureaucrats at city hall have presented their proposals for taming the multi-million dollar budget deficit, Calgary's elected officials are getting down to the politics of exactly what to cut.

Administrators presented council with a plan on Wednesday to tackle the projected deficit of $47.4 million in the 2011 budget, while holding the hike in property taxes to the previously agreed level of 6.7 per cent.

The savings would be achieved through cuts to several departments, including Calgary Transit, fire services and city parks.

But the budget process should be guided by what services Calgarians want from city hall, not by a pre-set target for the tax rate, said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

"Let's start by defining what their priorities are, figuring out the best possible way of delivering them their services, and then figure out what number we get to," he said.

"If we were to go with the 6.7 per cent budget, I think Calgarians would be satisfied with the services they receive. However we've also heard that there's a desire for us to explore options to take that tax increase below 6 dollars and 60 cents a month. And that's the conversation we're going to be having with Calgarians," Nenshi said.

A $500,000-program that subsidizes transportation for Calgarians living on disability incomes giving them $50per month in taxi couponsis on the chopping block.

But the Access Calgary Extra program is important, and eliminating it would reflect poorly on the city, said Rene Medina, the executive director of the Independent Living Resource Centre.

'I think the greatness of a city is measured by how we take care of the less fortunate.' Rene Medina, executive director,Independent Living Resource Centre

"I think the greatness of a city is measured by how we take care of the less fortunate and marginalized. Now this is a group or community of people that need all the support they can get. I hope this budget will not be cut," he said.

Trimming the cleaning budgetat Calgary Transit by $1.4 million is also a bad idea, said Mike Mahar, local president for the Amalgamated Transit Union. He cited the broken window theory if things look like they are not being care for, then people treat them badly.

The administration's proposed budget adjustments also included suggestions for another $35 million in politically sensitive spending cuts, such as postponing two new fire halls, cuts to transit services and reducing snow and ice control on city roads.

If council decides to go that route, there will be half as many new routes as currently planned, said Mahar.

"For example if they have five buses coming out of a particular district, they may only have four. So obviously then you'll have heavier loads on whatever buses are coming out," he said.

But according to Ald. Andre Chabot, Council is unlikely to opt for the deeper cuts that would be necessary to get the tax rate increase much below 6.7 per cent.

"Personally I don't think that we'll get below five and a half per cent, this Council. We'd be lucky to get it around five," he said.

The budget finalization debate starts on Nov. 29.

Calgarians are invited to come to city hall to have their say, Nenshi said.