By Mandy Albania
Some residents of Somerset Ward say they would support a municipal tax increase, but only if it means saving city services that could be in jeopardy.
“There will be trouble in the future if we cut essential things that we need to live,” says Helen Morton, who lives on Poplar Street.
Morton, and about 40 other residents of Somerset Ward, met at the McNabb Community Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 25, to discuss how they think the city’s budget should be spent.
The meeting was one of four consultation meetings scheduled throughout the city last week.
“We have to decide how much to spend and where to spend it,” says Elisabeth Arnold, the councillor for the ward.
The public’s input will help the city decide whether to raise taxes and maintain existing levels of service or to keep local taxes constant and cut services.
Arnold says the city’s next move will be to issue a survey through local newspapers about spending and distribution of funds — a campaign it hopes will reach all Centretown residents.
A draft of the budget should be tabled by April 1, 1998 and then made available to the public. A last consultation meeting and caucus meeting are scheduled for the end of April.
The city will debate the terms of this year’s budget in the first week of May and will release the budget in its final form shortly after.
At the consultation meeting residents told Arnold money should be put into services like recreation, fire safety, and sewers.
“These are services that keep life going,” said Morton.
“We have to put money into recreation and playgrounds to help keep kids busy and off the streets,” said Grace McCaffrey, a resident of Laurier Avenue.
“These services have an impact on how safe and secure the city is … we can avoid having kids hanging out in malls and swarming people,” agrees Peter Thorn of Flora Street.
Cultural programs and urban planning seemed to be less of a concern to residents of Somerset Ward.
“Culture is a lower priority. We can run those programs ourselves,” said Morton.
With feedback from local residents, the city is looking to find ways to reduce the operating budget by $16 million.
Ideally, city council wants to propose a budget with no tax increase for 1998.