Did Moose Jaw City Council really need someone from outside the community to tell it that a seven per cent increase in municipal taxes could harm the local business community?
Likely not. But that’s the message the mayor and council received from representatives of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business at a recent budget committee meeting.
The spokesmen asked council to have another look at budget documents to see if all inclusions are necessary and if some line items could be reduced or eliminated as a means to reducing the projected tax increase.
They suggested the level of expected tax increase could jeopardize the city’s fourth place ranking of entrepreneurial cities and thus remove its attractiveness as a place for a small business to flourish.
The theme was that the provincial government is promoting doing more with less and this scenario should be adopted at the municipal level.
That’s not a new theme in Moose Jaw. Frugal councils have always advocated doing more with less, so much so that staffing levels at city hall are far below the capacity of workloads being faced. And there is also a lack of experienced employees in key positions, again because of the budget restraints over the past decade.
While an outside perspective is always appreciated, council members are well aware of what is essential to the city and what can be eliminated. No one wants to see taxes increase by seven per cent, nor does anyone want to consider reduced city services.
Council might have a sharp pencil but it will never be sharp enough to make everyone happy.
