Infrastructure, tax hike up for debate as Sudbury enters budget planning

As the City of Greater Sudbury gets set for budget deliberations, Mike Jakubo, chair of the city's Finance and Administration Committee, says capital renewal should be at the top of council's wish list.

That includes water and sewer systems, as well as the city's inventory of municipal facilities– arenas, halls, city hall itself. Many are more than 60 years old, and Jakubo said there is a "huge tick up" in the amount of scheduled work for 2020. 

"If we want to bring our whole class of assets into a fully accessible state, we need to make some decisions in the future, but it really starts with a budget that provides the funding to make some of those decisions a reality," Jakubo said. 

"And in this budget, more so than you will have seen in any other budget capital, renewal has really become a priority."

Jakubo said an expected 3.5 per cent tax increase is not a done deal. Depending on how councillors prioritize the items presented in the budget, that number could either move up or down. 

"You've seen that in some of our previous year's budget deliberations," Jakubo said. "Where we get into [budget] week and some priorities emerge that council as a whole, or at least a majority, really feels are important and could either move the dial a little bit up or a little bit down."

Discussions around the consolidated budget–a 600 page document that covers both the city's capital and operations budget and serves as business plan for the city – are scheduled to take place over three days, beginning Tuesday.

The City of Greater Sudbury's proposed operating budget for 2020 is $614.9 million. 

The total consolidated budget for 2019 was $593 million, a 16.7 per cent decrease from 2018, which the city said was a result of one-time funding investments in the Kingsway Entertainment District, Arena/Event Centre, and major road projects including MR 35 and Lorne Street.