Halifax council passes budget that will raise property taxes 3 per cent

Halifax city council has endorsed a billion dollar budget for 2015-2016 and it includes a bigger increase for residential taxes than first expected, leading to almost a third of councillors to vote against it.

The numbers includes an $870 million operating budget and $136 million for capital projects. That's up $25 million from last year.

Originally, finance staff told councillors there would be a 1.8 per cent increase in taxes.

Chief financial officer Greg Keefe said, then, a $4 million reserve fund was created for future projects and council increased the fire service budget

"So at the end of the day, the average taxes on a single family home are up three per cent," he said.

Several councillors, including Halifax South Downtown's Waye Mason, were happy with the budget.

"I think some hard decisions have been made," he said. "Not all, but overall we're going in the right direction."

Five councillors voted against the budget for a variety of reasons, including the increase in taxes.

Mayor Mike Savage said overall it's a good budget.

'I still see a good story'

"I think when I look at it, I still see a good story," he said.

"The last two years in particular, this council has been very tough on budgets and tax rates to make sure we don't unduly increase the rates that people are paying."

Savage agreed with Mason in the direction the city is going.

"We have a well managed city, our debt is going down, I think we've held the line on discretionary spending, but there comes a point where if you don't invest in those things, then the city will suffer," he said.

Lower Sackville councillor Steve Craig didn't think enough money was set aside for snow removal.

"I'm struggling with why we would continually under-budget," he said. "I think we all strive to come down to a budget that is realistic, attainable and not rely on moving numbers back and forth."

In the end, Craig refrained from adding any more money for snow removal this year because a review of the city's winter operations is underway.