Fredericton budget would lower tax rate, step up bus service, allot more to public safety

Doubling the frequency of buses on the busiest routes and year-round patrols from uniformed security officers are included in the proposed 2025 budget for the City of Fredericton.

The $180-million budget was presented Monday night to city councillors, who approved it in principle. It will come before council at its meeting on Nov. 25 for final approval. 

The budget would see the inside tax rate decreased next year to $1.3086 per $100 of assessed value from $1.3286.

"We did take an approach that focused on affordability for our residents," said city treasurer Alicia Keating, who highlighted the tax decrease when she presented the budget to councillors.

Mayor Kate Rogers echoed the need for affordability.

"There was a lot of consensus around the council table, because we hear from the community, they're concerned about affordability," Rogers said in an interview after the meeting. 

Councillors also voted to increase the outside tax rate to $1.1565 per $100 of assessed value from $1.1065. The is the rate paid by residents who enjoy fewer services. Residents of areas newly annexed by the city through local government reform would also see their rate go up.

These changes would bring the city over $11 million more in revenue over last year, for a total revenue of just over $180 million. 

No money for new police officers

Public safety would take a significant chunk of the budget funded by general revenue, with almost $56 million in operating costs proposed for 2025. That's 35 per cent of the total budget.

Despite the spending on public safety, no new police officers would be hired under the 2025 budget, because of problems filling existing spots, said police Chief Gary Forward.

Forward said there would be new officers once the new officer training school, the Atlantic Policing Academy, is up and running.

"We expect to get pretty close, at this time next year following the graduation, to have, I think, the complement that the police force should have moving forward," he said.

But the police department will hire four new civilian staff members to give uniformed officers more flexibility to perform their normal duties, he said. 

The community safety services unit, which has uniformed security officers patrolling the city's trails to report crime and homeless encampments to police, will increase to year-round patrolling. The unit's current mandate is for about nine months of the year, at a cost of $135,900. The unit will also expand to have a second trail unit at a cost of $200,000.

"I don't think that is a replacement for police officers," Rogers said, as she turned to issues related to people in the city who are homeless. "It is responding to a community safety need, to a concern that we're hearing in the community."

Solutions to support the homeless population will come from working with the provincial and federal governments, she said, along with working with the judicial system.

"We are very committed to enhancing community safety, but it just feels that what we are doing is responding to safety concerns, as opposed to responding to what the root cause is," Rogers said.

More frequent buses on busiest routes

Transit service would increase under the budget to every half-hour on routes city staff have identified as being at or over-capacity in ridership. That's up from the city's current frequency of one hour for public transit buses. This would include hiring six new staff members to accommodate the change. 

On-demand service would also replace existing transit service in Lincoln and Silverwood.

All of the transit changes will cost just under $600,000.

The budget also included $300,000 for the design for a new fire station in the city's southwest, which the fire department has called for to decrease response time for emergencies.

Four relief firefighters would also be hired in 2025. 

Despite the reduced tax rate for most residents, councillors voted to increase parking and some transit rates.

Parking meter charges will increase by 50 cents from $1.50 an hour to $2. Daily and monthly rates for parking at York Carpark, Frederick's Square, East End Garage and Officers' Square will increase. The seniors annual transit pass would  increase from $60 a year to $65.

"We tried to be very conscious of not increasing those fees too much," Rogers said, adding that the fee increases are balanced by the reduced property tax rate.

The city's tax assessment base increased almost seven per cent from last year, 2.3 per cent of which is from new construction in the city and 4.6 per cent from the increased assessment on existing properties.