Council to scrutinize 2013 budget

City councillors will spend all day Thursday reviewing the 2013 provisional budget.

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, councillors will do a line-by-line deliberation of the budget, which was formally presented by City Manager Ron Mattiussi on Monday.

The $357 million budget recommends a $103 million tax demand, up $3.6 million from 2012. That would increase taxation levels by 2.54 percent over 2012. 

That increase may change once councillors complete the review. Final approval will come in May, 2013.

In his report, Mattiussi wrote that the budget reflects slower economic growth and that expansion projects based on growth will have to be delayed.

Mattiussi estimates that tax revenue from new construction will be about $1.1 million—down about $1 million from the annual average from 2008 to 2012.

"The local economy is slowly showing signs of improving," Mattiussi wrote. "The construction sector has been especially impacted and a more lengthy recovery period is being predicted for that industry."

John Sleeper
jsleeper@infotelnews.ca
250-718-0428