Ottawa mayor unveils budget-balancing plan

Leaving unfilled city jobs vacant, saving on fuel consumption,and asking police and the province to do their part are some of the solutions that will allowthe cityto overcome a $95-million budget shortfall andfreeze taxes this year, Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien says.

The mayor outlined his cost-saving budget planin a speech to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning.

'Instead of forcing the community to defend and justify its programs... we will focus on the big items first.' Mayor Larry O'Brien

"We start by changing how the budget debate unfolds in the coming weeks," he said.

"Instead of forcing the community to defend and justify its programs we will focus on the big items first."

He said those items include:

• $10 million to $15 million from leaving vacant jobs at city hall unfilled.
• $10 million from asking police toreduce their own proposed budget.
• Up to $20 million from reducing the amount of overtime worked by city staff, and reducing energy, fuel consumption andengineering costs, based on recommendations by the city's auditor general.
• $30 million to $35 million from cost-sharing money that the province has not yet agreed to provide; money that would have been spent on the cancelled light rail project; and debt financing strategies such as negotiating better interest rates.
• $15 million from last year's budget surplus, which usually goes into a special fund instead of general spending.
• $10 million to be found by city council during budget debates as "past history indicates that my colleagues are pretty adept at," O'Brien said.

"I'm just trying to give you a business person's view of how I would look at this budget," O'Brien told CBC after his speech, adding that he will get his council colleagues involved in the process.

"That's part of the learning curve for a new mayor to understand the political reality of getting their agenda forward."

O'Brien promised during the fall election campaign to freeze taxes for four years if he were elected mayor. In December, city staff predicted that the city's spending would outstrip its revenues by $95 million in 2007.

The city'sdraft budget for this year is scheduled to be tabled on Feb. 7 and the finalbudget must be approved by councilat the end of that month.