The 2017 operating budget for the City of North Bay has been sent to committee, but one city councillor was hoping to have more discussion before that decision was made.
Councillor Mark King was looking to hear more information from both staff and the chief financial officer about the long term goals of the budget, and where the city is going both in the short and long terms.
King says it’s important to know what the hard facts are, where housing starts have gone, the net job growth in the city, and the real growth of the city. The reason facts are important, according to King, is because you can’t arbitrarily raise rates on people and not have the answers as to why and what the net effects will be on the community.
King says he’s expecting presentations to come forward to council in the coming months, which will talk about the minister of finance suggesting the population numbers in Northern Ontario will decline four per cent over the next 10 to 15 years. He doesn’t feel comfortable about the position the North is in right now.
King says it’s common at all levels of politics for politicians to avoid the hard issues, but hopes the discussions at the committee meeting on Monday will bring some real substance to the table.
At the committee stage, councillors will be able to ask staff and the chief operating officer questions about the budget. King says it’s important to be able to question staff about all these different directions, and to be able to think long and hard about what the City is going to do moving forward.
