Higher property tax hikes and more cops could be coming in next week’s city budget.
For weeks there have been signals coming out of city hall that Mayor Scott Gillingham could raise property taxes above the 3.5 per cent annual increase he promised during his election campaign.
Gillingham has been saying the city’s population is growing, so is the demand for services, but revenue to pay for them is not keeping up. The mayor said he campaigned on 3.5 per cent hikes, as well as getting a new funding deal with the province.
“We have not yet got that model from the Province of Manitoba, so we need to raise more revenue,” said Gillingham.
But Gillingham wouldn’t say if taxes will go beyond the 3.5 per cent cap.
“The budget will come out Wednesday, and the public will see the details of the budget then.”
A spokesperson for the mayor said Winnipeg has the lowest municipal property taxes of any major city in Canada, and that won’t change.
Gillingham said calls for emergency services continue to climb. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service is facing a large overtime deficit.
On top of this, Acting Police Chief Art Stannard said the police service has a budget ask of 72 more officers to deal with high call volumes and a growing city.
“We’ve had the same amount of cars for the last 20 years, 25 years. We need more cars out there,” said Stannard. “I’ve made it known to city officials that, I’ve made it known to the police board that we need more cars.”
Winnipeg Police Board Chair Markus Chambers has also been calling for an increase to the police complement.
“We need to right-size the department to make sure that we’re responding adequately to calls for service,” said Chambers.
But the acting chief is realistic about the request.
“I’m hoping that Wednesday brings some good news,” said Stannard. “I also know that I asked for that amount, I know I won’t get that amount. We also have to respect the finance crunch of the city.”
While the focus is on the 2025 budget, there was an update on police service’s 2024 budget. The police board heard the service is expected to be on budget this year, including a $7 million savings target, despite earlier projections of a $2 million shortfall. The service attributes the good news to overtime dropping between the summer and fall, and some savings on rent because a move to the new north station was delayed.