A rising wage bill and unavoidable inflationary costs have forced the city’s transportation committee to bump its 2010 operational budget by $5.6 million, adding an extra 0.56 per cent to the tax rate.
The transportation draft budget for next year is set at $130.45 million, with increases coming primarily from nearly $3 million extra in compensation cost due to contract settlements and $2 million from the inflationary cost of fleet operations.
Committee chair River Ward Coun. Maria McRae said there is a plan underway to lower the budget by a “significant chunk” by the time it would be debated at the transportation committee meeting on Nov. 9.
The transportation committee’s $254.8 million capital budget includes arguably the city’s biggest-ever investment in cycling and pedestrian projects, said McRae.
