Latest news with #DarenAnderson
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Regina considers cancelling holiday 'Light the Lights' event to help trim mill rate
Regina may be looking at a dusty summer and one less holiday event this year to save $1.55 million on the 2025 general operating budget. A report presented to executive committee on Wednesday outlined a plan to find the money, as directed by city council during previous budget talks. It entails cutting from several internal and public-facing projects, plus cancelling the annual Light the Lights celebration held at city hall in December. Council issued the directive in March as an asterisk on its 2025 budget to shave 0.5 per cent from the proposed mill rate increase, thus landing on 7.33 per cent — still a record-high jump. The motion was left open-ended for administration to decide where to find the cuts after council walked back a first version that called specifically for cutting out-of-scope jobs. 'When we provide direction to 'just find money,' this is the consequence,' Ward 6 councillor Victoria Flores said during Wednesday's meeting, after other councillors voiced discontent with administration's suggested cuts. 'I don't know we'll ever be happy with this, as it always means cutting services, so that I think is a lesson learned.' Administration is hoping to find the lion's share of the $1.55-million savings from the Government of Canada's cancellation of the consumer carbon tax on natural gas and electricity, estimated to be $600,000. The rest of the cuts are proposed from deferring planned facility upgrades, reducing security and maintenance for the bathroom at Pat Fiacco Plaza, reducing dust suppression on gravel roads, cancelling mosquito control on 'out-of-town locations' and cancelling Light the Lights 2025. Chief financial officer Daren Anderson said these items were chosen because options were limited to things under the city's control that would affect the mill rate directly. This ruled out anything funded by reserves or subject to fluctuation, like gas prices, or altering staff hours as that requires a procedure under employment laws, he said. 'We were also cognizant that we're a quarter of the way through the year, so it had to be something we could do looking forward to save money,' said Anderson, who added that city departments were polled for suggestions and these were chosen as options that would have 'the least impact to our residents and to our customers.' But some councillors still had concerns about what's on the chopping block. Coun. Dan Rashovich (Ward 1) said he felt like council was 'on the outside' of this decision. Coun. David Froh (Ward 3) gave an early warning that he intends to ask for this plan to be revisited at the May 7 council meeting, which could lead to administration seeking other options. 'The purpose of that reconsideration motion will be to allow administration and council to look at what has been recommended to be reduced and the amounts to be reduced,' he said. On the cutting-room floor: Motions that missed during Regina's 2025 budget discussions 'At a critical juncture': Regina city manager, CFO argue for tax hike in city's 2025 budget City council made a similar post-budget reduction of $2.9 million in 2023, which resulted in internal spending cuts on staff travel, training, consulting, salaries and benefits. Admin's report notes that cuts in 2025 will slow the city's progress on initiatives to increase downtown vibrancy as well as the Energy and Sustainability Framework by delaying energy-efficient facility upgrades. lkurz@ The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
CTV News
30-04-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘No perfect cuts': Some councilors unhappy with where city administration found service cuts post-budget
Some Regina city councillors voiced their disappointment to a report from administration outlining where cost savings were found after March's budget deliberations. In an attempt to cut the city's mill rate increase at budget talks in March, council tasked administration to $1.55 million in cost efficiencies to save residents money on their tax bills. Administration brought back their recommendations to Executive Committee Wednesday. 'Administration has identified eight items where the savings will be found,' Chief Financial Officer Daren Anderson told committee. 'We can discuss what is in that bucket. But we can't change that bucket once the mill has been set.' In March, City Manager Niki Anderson – who is currently on leave – warned councillors the city had already cut operating costs to the bone - and any further cuts would be to services. 'Anything less than that is cutting services, and we're at 1.9,' she said on March 19. '[Administration] would have to go back to council saying, 'here's some scenarios on the service cuts.' In 2025, the city projects it will save $600,000 by not having to pay the consumer carbon tax on heating and electricity. An additional $280,000 in efficiencies were identified in internal service reductions. The remaining $670,000 in savings were in cuts to public services – like mosquito control or dust suppression. Of the public service cuts, administration also proposed the cancellation of the popular 'Light the Lights' night at city hall – saving $35,000. 'There are no job reductions as a result of these cuts,' city manager of corporate operations Ted Schisler said. 'Any anything that needed adjusting would be adjusting within the work area.' Overview of Cost Reduction Items Source: City of Regina But some councillors weren't happy with where administration found cuts. 'There's some other places here where we can make some reductions still,' Ward 1 coun. Dan Rashovich said. 'In other areas it won't affect some of these things.' 'These cuts had to occur in this year in order to balance the budget, and they had to impact the mill rate,' Anderson said. 'We focused on areas where we believe that it was certain.' Rashovich pointed back to some ideas he had in March during deliberations to cut costs that were defeated by votes. '[Council] is sitting on the outside here and we totally can't see inside of where to find reductions,' he said. 'I still feel that way.' Other councillors reminded their colleagues their decisions at budget have consequences for residents who rely on critical services across the city. 'I do not know that we're ever going to be happy with this,' Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores said. 'It always means cutting services. I think that is a lesson learned to not have a process where [we] say, 'find money from whatever.'' Mayor Chad Bachynski feels his relatively inexperienced council was just handed a very heavy lesson early in their term. 'We're learning a lot in a short amount of time, which is good and we need that,' he told reporters Wednesday. 'This experience is definitely going to help everybody understand what they're looking at. And understand the implications of every decision that we make a lot better moving forward.' Ward 3 Coun. David Froh says he will be bringing forward a reconsideration motion, 'to allow administration and council to look at what has been recommended to be reduced and the amounts to be reduced.'' 'It's clear there are no perfect cuts,' Froh added. That reconsideration motion is expected to be on the floor of council May 14 for further discussion.
