Halifax council eyeing $1.3 billion operating budget

The Halifax Regional Council is eyeing a potential $1.3 billion operating budget.

In light of Halifax’s growing population, council is looking at an operating budget that tips the scale at more than $1 billion.

At last count, Halifax’s population peaked at more than 530,000 people in January, a number the municipality didn’t expect to surpass until 2030.

That growth is putting pressure on the Halifax Regional Municipality to meet programming and service needs while keeping aging infrastructure in place.

“For many decades there has been an under-investment in a lot of our infrastructure,” said councilor Shawn Cleary.

The current projected operating budget is $1.3 billion. It will require tax revenues of $992.7 million to meet the costs, which could see the average municipal property tax bill increase by 7.6 per cent.

Council often works with the initial figure and tries to find savings and bring the property tax increase down as much as possible, but it’s a fine balance, said councillor Tony Mancini.

“There’s only so much money but now because of our growth we have a lot of projects that we have to deal with,” said Mancini.

Mancini listed major capital projects like the Halifax Forum redevelopment project, which has a $110 million price tag. Council could look at alternatives there to save on some costs or other major projects like the $182 million newly proposed police headquarters that would replace the aging facility on Gottingen Street.

About 82 per cent of HRM’s revenue comes from taxes and both Mancini and Cleary say they understand residents can only afford so much.

“Unfortunately, over the last few years we’ve had much higher tax bill increases than people want,” said Cleary.

Last year’s budget saw council approve a 6.3 per cent tax increase after staff recommended a much higher rate.

“In previous years where we had a higher number at the starting point, like 12 per cent and 16 per cent,” said Mancini. “And so where we land we don’t know yet but I think it’s (7.6 per cent) is a good starting point.”

Halifax budget committee will begin deliberations Wednesday.

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