City staff presented the final draft 2011 operating and capital budgets to Council on Feb. 21.  Council was asked to provide feedback to staff on any changes, additions or deletions they would like incorporated into an amended final draft of the budget.

One of the most widespread concerns of the community is the annual tax increase.  The current recommendation from staff is a municipal increase of 2.8 per cent, but with the reduction in other areas of tax, the increase overall on residents’ bills will be 2.2 per cent.Mayor Craig Nuttall recommended a 1.5 per cent increase only, with reasoning of keeping in line with other communities in the area.  The majority of council did vote in favour of keeping the 2.8 per cent increase in the budget.

The Dryden Police Service’s budget is to be sent back for a reduction, and council is looking for an approximate cut of $100,000.  The budget is to be sent back to the Police Services Board for examination.With a 50/50 split from councillors on three different items, the revisions proposed for the draft city budget caused a bit of stress for Councillor Brian Collins.

One of the first points of conflict was further development of the Norwill Subdivision and Centennial Business Park.  In the draft budget, it was proposed to spend an additional $560,000 on the two properties to complete sidewalks, curbing, lighting and other cosmetic needs.The changes recommended to staff were to remove the Norwill and Centennial capital projects for 2011 subject to property being sold and a request for land currently not serviced.  Should the need to further service any land arise, then the project would be moved forward immediately.Council was split on the decision with three votes for either side, and the final vote coming to Councillor Brian Collins, who was Chair.

Collins suggested splitting the two costs into two separate votes, with $160,000 allocated to Centennial and the balance to the Norwill park.  With the suggestion overturned by council, Collins made the final vote to drop the project for the 2011 budget, saving the city over half a million dollars in long term debt for this year.Final levies for the Northwestern Health Unit and the Home for the Aged were agreed upon, as were the decrease to the DDC budget of $100,000 and a decrease in the training budget of $42,000.The second half and half split came with the purchase of a new Command Suburban for the Dryden Fire Service.  Three councillors were of the opinion that the aging vehicle is for emergency response, and should be replaced this year.The two remaining councillors and Mayor Nuttall agreed that the vehicle is still in reasonably good condition and could be used as is for one more year.

Again, Collins was left with the final vote, which was in favour of replacing the vehicle in the 2011 budget.  Also on this item was the tractor being taken out of long term debt, and being put into the operating budget, as well as the ice resurfacer being taken out of the 2011 budget as the item is not available until 2012.The third tied vote for the night was the increase of five per cent for all user fees across the board.  Some agreed that there should be increases, but not a blanket increase on all fees without appraising each one individually.  Fees in question included arena, pool and rec centre admissions and rentals, garbage tags, as well as water and sewer rates.

By Ally Dunham