Councillors approve HRM budget
Posted May 25, 2010 02:51:57 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After much debate, Halifax councillors formally adopted the 2010-11 HRM budget.
The budget was approved in principal Friday evening and was ratified Tuesday afternoon with a vote of 17-7.
There’s been much discord over whether or not this year’s budget will bring an increased tax hike as councillors try to close a $35.5 million shortfall.
City staff were able to cut the proposed rate hike of 1.7 per cent to .7 per cent after tightening the belt in several areas including snow-removal and transit funds.
However some councillors say they could have done better. South End Coun. Sue Uteck says councillors would have agreed to anything at 8 p.m. Friday night when debate ended – including jumping out a window.
“2000 pages on a Tuesday night at six have two budget open houses and begin a debate on a Friday of a long weekend was patently unfair,” says Uteck
Purcell’s Cove – Armdale Coun. Linda Mosher also says more time for debate could’ve resulted in no tax increase.
“I was not given an opportunity to speak and I had two and a half pages of potential cuts that I felt that we could come to a zero budget so I will be submitting that to staff,” said Mosher.
“Some of them I rose before and asked questions and we did not get the answers to those questions.”
