The vote was closer than some people anticipated, but we will not see a two per cent budget decrease in 2017.

With another budget meeting upcoming Thursday, a last ditch effort was made by Timmins city councillor Rick Dubeau to look at cutbacks…the same motion he first introduced last October.

The decrease equates to around $3-million dollars.

Dubeau says the request was “ignored” by department heads who, for the most part, all asked for budget increases instead.

Mayor Steve Black argues the request was simply for city staff to look into ways of saving cash.

Councillor Noella Rinaldo says she trusts department heads did their due diligence, but it’s “unrealistic” to do any major cut back at this stage.

However, she adds they can fine tune the budget once more this week.

The final vote on the cut back was 5-4 against:

  • For: Councillors Dubeau, Joe Campbell, Mike Doody and Walter Wawrzaszek
  • Against: Mayor Black, Councillors Rinaldo, Pat Bamford, Veronica Farrell and Andrew Marks

And thus, the expenditure increase for 2017 stands at 2.41%.  A budget meeting will be held on Thursday.

CLICK HERE for the discussion on the cut back, under Item 7A.

Filed under: Local News