Red Deer Chamber offers advice to city council ahead of budget talks

“We are asking the City to assess overall spending and the resultant substantial tax increases that are significantly above the rate of inflation. The City needs to look for opportunities to decrease costs and to determine priority areas for spending. Passing on the costs for unchecked growth of the City’s budget to businesses is simply not sustainable.”

The Chamber points out that the proposal of $488.3 million in operating and $117.3 million in capital for 2024 includes options for a 6.15 per cent, 8.55 per cent, and 13.86 per cent tax rate increase. These options represent an increase in overall spending from the 2023 approved budget of 9.5 per cent ($31 million) and do not include any reductions to service levels or projects, they note.

“After review of the report, the City intends to increase spending substantially without providing any review or consideration for a reduction in services or outsourcing to reduce costs,” Robinson remarks. “While it is important to acknowledge the impact of inflation, higher costs, and reductions in grants from other levels of government, these circumstances should trigger the City to look at cost reduction opportunities not just tax and/or fee increases. We expect the City to complete a prioritization of services and in turn make changes to operations that will decrease expenses.:

Robinson adds that the City must keep the cost of doing business competitive in order to protect the local economy.

“Tax rate increases at this level will certainly have negative consequences for business, but our real concern is a lack of planning for change,” he says.

The following recommendations were included in the Chamber’s response to the City:

Minimize Tax Rates – Tax increases should remain in line with inflation.
Review User Pay Revenue – Review the rates of fees and fines to ensure that fees are in line with the fixed cost increases of services and facilities.
Prioritize City Services and Outsourced Service Delivery – Engage an external consultant to analyze core City services and identify opportunities for outsourcing and/or private sector delivery.
Create Opportunities for Flexibility – Consider delay or reductions to the scope of activities to future years.
Economic Growth for the City – Re-evaluate Economic Development Activities.

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Red Deer Chamber offers advice to city council ahead of budget talks

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