City council faces tough decisions on over-budgeted boards

Outside boards and agencies may take up all the air during council’s two-day budget debate.

“I really want to delve deeper into those outside boards for sure. Council said let’s meet at 2.6, and the city administration’s done that, and so with regards to that, I’m pretty much ready to approve, but I do need to get into those fine details,” Coun.Kasey Etreni told Newswatch on Tuesday.

The city proposes collecting a total of $251.5 million in tax to help fund a budget of $638 million in 2026.

Council’s directed administration to keep the 2026 tax-levy increase at 2.6 per cent, which city administration achieved for city-delivered programs and services.

But a few outside boards and agencies didn’t reach the city’s target, increasing the proposed budget to 4.4 per cent over last year’s tax levy total of $240.8 million.

“It’s a difficult budget year, recognizing the pressures that we have within certain organizations in particular, like policing. I know our community supports policing and can understand why that budget amount is so high,” said Etreni, who is one of two city council members on the Thunder Bay Police Service Board, alongside Mayor Ken Boshcoff.

The board itself met the city’s target with its operating budget, but approved a 9.2 per cent increase in the Thunder Bay Police Service’s operating budget, up $5.4 million over last year.

Etreni supported the police service budget at the board level but Boshcoff did not. The mayor did not respond to a request for comment.

City police and the police board are very aware of taxpayers and of the job the have to do, policing a bigger population than the number posted coming into the city, said Denise Baxter, vice-chair of the Thunder Bay Police Service Board, but po

She added that Chief Darcy Fleury has been streamlining the police service to get rid of duplicated tasks and create more efficiencies, but “at the end of the day, everything costs more.”

“I mean, I’ve heard the news from the city, and certainly they were asking for 2.6 per cent. But, I mean, even salaries have gone up 4 per cent, so recognizing that is a challenge. We did have several meetings over several months to make sure that we were able to put the tightest budget together to bring forward to the city,” Baxter said.

During the budget review process, city council could decide to ask the police to reexamine financial numbers and pare down their operating budget to fall in line with the municipal mandate.

Baxter said the board and city police have already brought those numbers down.

“I really feel strongly that we have done a really conscientious job of that, and I really do hope that it moves forward in the way that it needs to,” she said.

Etreni said in her first budget review council had an appetite to direct outside boards and organizations to bring their budget numbers down.

She said most of the boards and organizations have kept under 5 per cent, “which is definitely a good start.”

City council can ask the Community Economic Development Corporation, Fort William BIA, Thunder Bay Public Library, and Thunder Bay Police Service to pare down their budgets, according to city treasurer and commission of corporate services, Keri Greaves.

He said “the city is required to pay” legislated boards and organizations, including the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board, Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, and Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

Lakehead Region Conservation Authority set a $3.2 million budget but halted a $590,000 reserve appropriation due to uncertainty around the province’s proposed consolidation with the Huron Conservation Authority.

Administration will be presenting council with its long range financial plan on Thursday and budget deliberation are set for next week.

On Mon. Jan 28 administration will present the corporate revenues and expenditures, along with budgets from the city manager’s office, corporate services, and community services. Then they wrap up budget discussions with the infrastructure and operations department and agencies’ boards and commissions on Wednesday Jan. 28.

Budget ratification is scheduled for Feb. 3rd. – tbnewswatch.com

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I believe that the cost of the TBPS policing FNs in the city should be paid by other levels of government.  The same with Social Services.  Indigenous issues are the responsibility of the Provincial and Federal Governments, not the City of Thunder Bay.

That will greatly reduce the cost to the Thunder Bay taxpayer.