City council will have to pull out the calculators after a projected $184-million cut to this year’s capital budget was announced yesterday.
Council was forced to axe millions at the City Finance Committee meeting because there isn’t as much revenue coming in from the province in the form of fuel tax and the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI), finance committee chair Ald. Gord Lowe said.
“Our source of revenue has changed. MSI money will still come but over a longer period of time, and people are buying less fuel so it means less revenue,” Lowe said.
Lowe said consequences will include project deferral, project renegotiation and other projects could be eliminated completely. Council has yet to determine which projects will be affected, Lowe added.
Ward 12 Ald. Ric McIver said the capital cuts disprove the saying “growth doesn’t pay for itself.”
“It’s because of a lack of growth that we need to make these cuts now,” McIver said. “Growth is something that is a big benefit to our city.”
McIver said he will have to see the numbers and dollars in front of him before he comments on particular projects. However, there is at least one on top of his list to go.
“The $25-million pedestrian bridges should go. We can do without those and I don’t think too many people would be upset,” he said.
