Saint John considers $143M budget

Saint John council is looking at a $143-million budget in 2012 and expects to hold the line on taxes while avoiding major service cuts.

Citycouncilgotits first peek at a draft copy of the budget during a closed-door meeting onMonday night.

If council achieves these objectives, it will be thanks largely to a two-year wage freeze and cuts to pension benefits for both current and retired city workers.

Deputy MayorStephen Chase said, even with those measures, it's not going to be easy to hold the line on taxes and spending.

"There's still going to be some difficulties in providing a level of service that is the same as last year's," Chase said.

According to Coun. Gary Sullivan, the proposed budget also avoids layoffs.

"We can't do blanket things just saying, 'Well, we'll just wipe these folks out and maintain the same service levels,' because we won't be able to maintain the same service levels," said Sullivan.

Sullivan said a hiring freeze is in effect andvacant positions are not being filled automatically.

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court and councillors have said repeatedly they will not raise property taxes. But workers did not agree to cuts to their pension benefits, particularly an end to inflation increases.

Different budget

All of council's plans could go out the window if the cuts to the pension plan are not approved by the provincial legislature when it next sits in March.

In that case, the city will have to come up with somewhere between $7 million and $9 million extra.

That budget would look vastly different from the one being discussed at next Monday's meeting.

The budget will have to be revised entirely in a few months if the $75 million in cuts to the employee pension plan are not approved by the provincial legislature.

Saint John is hoping to cut $75-million out of its $163-million pension deficit by ending cost-of-living increases in the pension plan for workers and suspending them for retirees.

However, the city needs the provincial legislature to pass a bill that would allow Saint John to make those changes.

But Saint John council did notmeet all of the requirements to get a private members bill into the legislative assembly in December.

Council had asked the 55 MLAs to return for a special setting in January, but that request has not been accepted.