CBRM council suspends budget talks on word provincial funding might be on the way

Budget talks in Cape Breton Regional Municipality were suspended Thursday after staff got word that Nova Scotia's Department of Municipal Affairs could be sending more money CBRM's way.

Council and staff say they could not balance the budget this year without finding $4.2 million in service cuts and new revenue.

Mayor Amanda McDougall said it's been a longstanding problem that CBRM has to send increasingly more taxes to the province for things like education, corrections and housing, yet the municipal capacity grant from the province has been frozen for years.

"It is unfair," she said. "We have to continuously give them more money but they are stagnant and frozen? Not fair."

During budget talks this week, council made several service cuts, put one staff hiring on hold and hiked transit fees and tipping fees at the landfill to reduce the deficit.

Still faced with a shortfall of more than $2 million, McDougall wrote to the province asking for help.

She said the deputy minister is now in talks with CBRM chief administrative officer Marie Walsh and it's looking good.

But it's not yet clear whether the province will provide enough new money to restore the cuts and eliminate the fee hikes proposed for the coming year.

"Feeling hopeful," McDougall said. "Not sure where they will go with it, but we're a growing municipality with unique challenges and hopefully once and for all they're going to recognize that."

She also couldn't say whether the money would cover the entire deficit council faced before budget talks started on Tuesday.

Coun. Eldon MacDonald said CBRM should restart its budget from scratch and put back all of the cuts staff proposed before the budget went to public meetings last week.

"I would ask that those cuts be put back on the table and we get proper funding to properly run our municipality in a manner that is appropriate for the level of taxes that we pay here for our citizens," he said.

In the end, councillors agreed to suspend the budget process until it's clear how much money could be coming from the province.

Expecting more from capacity grant

McDougall said the PC government promised to double the municipal capacity grant while renegotiating a new deal with municipalities.

Municipalities can use the grant for capital purchases or to cover general operating costs.

The province doubled the grant last year, which amounted to an extra $15 million for CBRM, but the municipality has not been told what will happen this year, the mayor said.

In an email, the Department of Municipal Affairs said the commitment was to double the capacity grant in the first year, which has been done.

New grant won't help with operating costs

It said the service exchange memorandum of understanding isn't complete yet, but it will include changes to the municipal grant, among other things.

The province recently created a new one-time grant to municipalities called the Sustainable Services Growth Fund, which is aimed at capital spending on accessibility, active transportation and housing, the department said.

Under that fund, CBRM is getting $3 million.

However, the department did not say whether any new money would be available to help CBRM with its general operating costs.

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