Bruins Split Weekend Games
⇢ A9 Raise Your Hands Theory Of A Deadman’s Tyler Connolly greets the 1,800 people who made their way to Spectra Place for the double bill featuring Theory Of A Deadman and Big Wreck. For more on the concert please see A3
December 12, 2012
WEDNESDAY
Prairie Roots Revue Here Friday
⇢ A4
www.estevanmercury.ca
After School Art Program Issue 32
⇢ A8
Council to deliberate budget today Local Students Spreading The Net
⇢ B6
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WEATHER & INDEX
The members of Estevan city council will have some tough decisions facing them today as they sit down for the beginning of deliberations on the 2013 budget. It was expected the members of council would begin pouring over the capital portion of the budget today and would get to the operations portion tomorrow. According to the summary financial plan provided by the City, the budget forecasts $28.85 million in revenue in 2013 and operating expenditures of $26.79 million for a surplus of $2.05 million. However, after the $2.86 million in capital expenditures, the city expects a deficit of $806,780 which, would require a property tax increase of roughly two mills to cover the shortfall. Mayor Roy Ludwig said council is not prepared to raise taxes by that much, and he expects there will be plenty of cutting once the deliberations begin. “We are going to have to go back and revisit that
because it is just too much,� said Ludwig. Although it has been well documented that the City has a number of infrastructure needs as it continues to grow, Ludwig said council would like to use 2013 as a chance to catch up on projects that have been delayed a number of times. An example he pointed to is the parking lot at the Souris Valley Aquatic and Leisure Centre. “We want to back off
on a lot of the new capital projects that we might have been looking at,� he said. “We would like to finish off what we have on our plate before we move forward.� Ludwig said another consideration was the City’s current debt load, which is around the $35 million mark. He noted that although the debt is a byproduct of growth and will be paid down as the City recoups its money on lots, they have to be cog-
nizant of how much debt they carry. “A lot of that will be alleviated in a few years. It is a concern and even in this year’s budget, I would like to see more done on it. I am not happy with the bottom line I am looking at, and I think we would like to pare it back a bit more.� Ludwig said Estevan and a number of cities throughout the country are also slowing down a touch in 2013 as they anticipate the announcement of a new round of infrastructure funding in 2014. “The federal government is coming out with some fairly serious money for infrastructure in 2014. So a lot of the cities will be taking care of the ongoing issues that they want to get wrapped up before that point in time so that they are ready to look forward and get lined up what they want to do from 2014 onward. That is another thing that we are going to have to get our heads around. We want to get at lot of these issues that have been on our plate for
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too long and then get some serious brainstorming and see what are our needs as a city moving forward and where should we be directing our money.� The desire to catch up is reflected in the capital projects listed in the budget. The capital portion of the leisure services budget is largely comprised of equipment but does include some projects that were carried over from 2012 such as work on the drainage pond area at Kensington Park and the redevelopment of Torgeson Park. Among the new items is an upgrade to the security camera system at the Souris Valley Aquatic and Leisure Centre, which is budgeted at $120,000; new lights for the ice surface area at the Estevan Curling Club and $60,000 to pave the parking lot at the ECC. The big project in the engineering services budget is the rehabilitation of Highway 47 through Estevan — another project that has been on the wish list for years. Catching ⇢ A2
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