For Lethbridge property owners, how your tax dollars will be spent over the next year is going to be the focus of City Council’s Finance Committee this week.
Councillors are getting together all week long for deliberations on the 2021-22 operating budget.
Some tough decisions will have to be made as well in order to try and keep spending down, especially given the fact Council decided last week to aim for a 0% increase in both property taxes and utility rates in 2021.
Council also voted unanimously to direct administration to implement KPMG-identified workforce reductions over a three-year period, using a combination of attrition and retirement, to achieve a $5 million of savings in salaries and benefits.
“As Finance Committee, we have some very difficult decisions to make,” Councillor Rob Miyashiro.
Several initiatives are on the table as Councillors debate ways to balance saving money with levels of service to residents.
City Councillor Rob Miyashiro says it’s important to look at expenditures and current service levels, especially now during the COVID pandemic, to ensure the budget reflects the new economic environment we are all living in.
The budget deliberations will begin at 9:00 each morning this week with the public able to follow things by watching online at can be found online at Lethbridge Agendas or on Shaw TV Lethbridge.
