It's that time of year again — city budget deliberations — and SooToday wants to hear your two cents.
On Thursday Dec. 7, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and CAO Malcolm White will be in our SooToday studio to pore over the numbers — and answer your questions. The session will be recorded and broadcast the next day, Dec. 8.
What do you want to know about this year's budget and the impact it will have on your property taxes? Where should the city be spending your money? What should be cut?
Send us your question — any question — and we'll make sure it's answered. You can leave your query in the comments section below, or email it to us at [email protected].
Budget-wise, here's where things stand at the moment.
At their latest meeting, city councillors were presented with the starting point for 2024 discussions: a potential $216-million budget — $13.5-million higher than this year. If approved, it would mean a 7.2 per cent levy increase.
At a town hall meeting earlier this week, Shoemaker called that figure "unacceptable" and promised that city council "will work hard to lower it." He said he plans to personally introduce at least $780,000 in proposed cuts to the budget during deliberations, which are scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12.
"I recognize the proposed figure is too high for too many residents and businesses to afford," said Shoemaker, addressing the approximately 10 ratepayers who showed up to the town hall at the Bay Street Active Living Centre.
During a recent interview with SooToday, Shoemaker reiterated his commitment to keeping property taxes as low as possible.
“I will keep looking for every dollar we can," he said. "That is something that is our responsibility as councillors to be conscious of: to ensure that we are not asking our residents to pay more than what they’re able to, recognizing that the cost of everything is going up.”
You can watch the mayor’s full interview HERE.