Sudbury budget: senior discount changes, council expenses off the table

After nearly 24 hours of debate and discussion over the last few months, Sudbury city council made the first decisions on the 2015 budget deliberations at its meeting Wednesday night.

They voted down some of the suggestions staff made to help achieve the tax freeze promised during the election campaign.

One of them was a proposal to save $31,600 by no longer hanging flower baskets in Capreol and Downtown Sudbury.

Ward 11 city Coun. Lynne Reynolds didn't think it was even worth consideration.

"We're dealing and wrestling with a half billion dollar budget. And these are the options that are presented to us by staff," said Reynolds. "And frankly I'm insulted."

Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier got some big laughs by suggesting the bill for watering flowers could be cut by having city fire trucks swing by to give them a "little squirt."

A suggestion to close libraries in Chelmsford and Lively on Sundays to save $11,600 was tossed out last night, with Montpellier calling the proposed cut "disgraceful."

Also shelved was a plan to save an estimated $175,000 by raising the age for the seniors discount for transit, parking and other city services from 55 to 65.

"It would be nice if we really really needed the savings. But I think it's going to have too much of a negative impact," said Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan.

But city staff were asked to do some more research on possible changes to the seniors discount and report back later in the year.

City councillors also voted down a staff suggestion to reduce their own office expense budgets by about $3,000 each. 

Freezing council salaries to save $5,000 will be on the table tonight. However, it was briefly discussed by councillors last night. Some, including Joscelyne Landry-Altmann, made it clear where they stand.

"Until everyone at Tom Davies Square who is non-union incurs the same freeze, I will not support this. I will not devalue the work a councillor does," the Ward 12 councillor said.

How the city can bring in more revenue is also on the agenda for tonight's meeting, with the focus on a plan instructing staff to find $4.4 million over the next year. 

The specifics of that proposal have changed a bit from when it was first tabled last week by councillor Kirwan. It would now see a target of $4 million to be raised through the cutting of employee and contractor costs, while the target for new user fee revenue would be set much lower at $450,000.

Last night, Mayor Brian Bigger had one of the most unusual ideas for filling up city bank accounts.

"Just wondering if anybody knows how many unnamed lakes we have. Anybody think there's a possibility of selling the naming rights?" said Bigger, adding that he's been told that about 40 of Greater Sudbury's 330 lakes don't have a name. 

Dozens of other budget options are up for voting at Thursday night's meeting, which is expected to end with a finalizing of the budget and the setting of the tax rate.

First decisions made on the 2015 budget

• City council voted to keep $12,600 in the budget in order to keep library branches in Chelmsford and Lively open on Sundays. Staff had suggested the cut in order to achieve a tax freeze.
• Sudbury city council voted not to redefine a senior as 65 and over in order to save $175,000 in the senior's discount on transit, parking and other city services currently enjoyed by those aged 55. But, council did ask staff to report back in the coming months with more detail on this issue.
• Councillors voted down a proposed cut to their own office expenses. Under the staff proposal, each councillor would have been able to spend $7,500 per year, a decrease of $2,989. This would have cut $35,868 from the budget.
• A proposed cut of $31,600 to no longer buy and water hanging flower baskets for Capreol and downtown Sudbury was dismissed. 
• Council decided not to implement two proposals from staff dealing with Trans Cab, the taxis that serve outlying parts of Greater Sudbury that are not served by transit. One would have raised $161,000 by charging $3.75 for the rides that are currently free. The other would have replaced regular transit with Trans Cab on weekend runs to Coniston, which would have saved $28,545.