The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor City councillors plan to meet with municipal department heads to figure out how to further stretch tax dollars. The news comes as council puts together one of the most challenging _ and controversial _ Flin Flon budgets in memory. 'We're looking at ways that we can do things a little more efficiently,' said Coun. Colleen McKee, chair of the Finance Committee. She said the Finance Committee, which also includes councillors Skip Martin and Tim Babcock, would seek suggestions from the department heads. Coun. McKee said she preferred not to use the term 'cuts' as it is 'a scary word,' but 'if it's something that we have to do then we have to do (it).' Speaking at Tuesday's council meeting, she also said ways of increasing revenues will be discussed. Coun. McKee made a point of noting that as Finance Committee chair, she is open to ideas from the public on how to approach the 2013 budget. 'I think sometimes when we look at these things, we look at it through a very narrow scope,' she said. '...in my experience, when you affect one area (of spending), you affect three other areas. It's never as simple as it looks.' See 'Spend..' on pg. 7 Continued from pg. 1 Mayor George Fontaine recently said council is pondering 'a whole pile' of spending cuts ahead of its next budget, but it's not clear which ones may be enacted. Flin Flon's annual budget increased 30 per cent, from $9 million to $11.7 million, between 2006 and 2012. Whether the 2013 budget trims spending will be known this spring, but either way council is set to implement a major change in how taxes are collected. Council plans to remove the $1.6 million annual cost of the Flin Flon RCMP and the Flin Flon Fire Dept. from property taxes. It will then divide that cost among all taxpaying properties across Flin Flon _ homes and businesses included _ through a new fee, which could be set at $567 a year. The goal is to glean more tax revenue from owners of low-end homes, many of whom do not receive the full $750 annual homeowners' grant offered by the Manitoba government. But when charged more under council's plan, those homeowners will be able to claim a greater share of the provincial grant. The end result is that while a lot of low-end homeowners will dig deeper into their wallets under council's plan, a sizable portion of the increase will be covered by the grant. At Tuesday's meeting, Mayor Fontaine said council is 'taking very, very serious steps towards working on studying our new budget system.' 'We'll be keeping people as well advised as we can as we make those changes and keep them as clear to the public as possible,' he added.
