Budget deliberations kicked off this week with sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.
Tuesday night saw council hear from staff in the infrastructure department, which involved presentations on public works and transit budget. The finance, assessment and taxation department also presented, and council also heard about the utility operating model.
On Thursday, council heard from the community and protective services department, which included presentations from cultural services, recreation, fire, police and Family and Community Support Services (FCSS).
Currently deliberations are mostly informational, with councillors getting a chance to ask staff questions, submit information requests and make motions, though budget motions are being postponed until all the presentations have been completed.
Glenn Tompolski, general manager of infrastructure services, said the biggest challenge to his division, which includes transit and public works, is the community’s growth.
“When it comes to infrastructure we are still a very young community,” he told council.
Still, they were able to find over $300,000 in savings with no service reductions, though Tompolski warned “there will be challenges because there will be no wiggle room to deal with challenges that might come up,” noting such issues could be problems like the price of oil going up.
Business cases and proposed capital projects were presented, and questions from council covered everything from city-owned contaminated site liabilities to wondering if a director of finance and utilities, a new position proposed in the budget, is really necessary, to electric buses being proposed for 2015.
Thursday night saw council grilling staff over the pitch to have an emergency management position added to the roster, in addition to questions for cultural services, recreation, fire, police and FCSS staff.
City manager Patrick Draper said the emergency management planner was being requested after the city had a tornado warning this summer.
“We realized in that real world experience we are not co-ordinated,” Draper said.
Budget deliberations are being web-streamed and the archived videos are being made available on the city’s website.
Deliberations are set to continue Dec. 3, 5, 10, and 12, with budget approval hoped for on Dec. 16. Mayor Nolan Crouse said council debate over the budget will begin on Dec. 10 and continue on Dec. 12.
