City council will be under pressure to prioritize programs and projects in an increasingly challenging economy heading into the new year.
Kavi Pandoo, the city’s director of corporate services, provided an overall context for Budget 2024 preparations during a presentation at the Nov. 20 governance and priorities committee meeting.
Pandoo, who only started in the city leadership role in September, promised a “tight and frugal” budget document due to an increasingly long list of challenging economic conditions.
“Preparing a budget and balancing a municipal budget has become harder and harder as a result of volatile economic conditions both at home and abroad,” he said. “As a community and a country, we’re coping with high rates of inflation, seemingly broken supply chains, coupled with unprecedented changes in the makeup and collective expectations of the workforce, as well as unpredictable climatic conditions.
“Locally, there are concerns about the overall lack of affordable housing and stagnating population growth.”
Benefits to Yellowknife’s economy will include housing development, returning tourists and continued construction on the aquatic centre, he said.
Although the city’s budget is usually expected to be completed by Dec. 31 under territorial law, city manager Sheila Bassi-Kellett noted that the GNWT Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has granted the city the ability to carry on its budget process into the new year due to unprecedented disruptions in 2023. Among them was the labour dispute with the Public Service Alliance of Canada in February and March, tending to wildfire emergencies over the summer and a citywide wildfire evacuation in August and September.
The 2023 budget had spending of $152.4 million with a property tax increase of 4.37 per cent.
Pandoo said capital project expenditures are currently forecasted to be $24.7 million when considering some of the larger ticket items like lagoon sludge removal ($2.8 million), land development projects ($2.2 million), fleet management ($2.1 million), landfill expansion and cell design, fire hall expansion ($4.5 million) and the aquatic centre ($3.6 million).
Images courtesy of the City of Yellowknife
Operations and maintenance
Pandoo also identified some operations and maintenance cost pressures the city foresees, including projected increases in human resources recruitment due to staff turnover and IT security and software maintenance; one-time costs of $75,000 each for record management software upgrades and economic development strategy renewal, and $120,000 for water licence compliance costs.
In addition, the city is taking into consideration a list of spending proposals from council that include an area development plan for Kam Lake and an assessment and public education for the 2023 wildfire.
A vote on a motion by council to forgive $60,000 of a $100,000 loan to Folk on the Rocks for the renovation of the Beer Garden main stage was defeated after a split vote was held. The organization had made the request for financial assistance during a public presentation on Oct. 23. Councillors Tom McLennan, Ryan Fequet, Cat McGurk, and Garrett Cochrane all backed providing assistance while Mayor Rebecca Alty and councillors Rob Warburton, Steve Payne, and Ben Hendriksen all opposed it.
Other requests from the public were turned down by councillors during the committee meeting as well ranging from an outdoor hockey rink with permanent structures to improved seating at bus shelters to a trail constructed between the Yellowknife Racquet Club and the ski club. Two other requests from from Makerspace YK and Yellowknife Women’s Society were also turned down.
A draft budget is expected to be presented at the Jan. 15 governance and priorities committee meeting. Residents will be able to provide input on the budget by email between Jan. 16-31.
The budget review for council will take place from Feb. 5-8 with an expectation that the final document will be approved on Feb. 12.
