The City of Winnipeg has figured out how to spend $767 million without raising your property taxes.

Several departments are getting cut back, user fees are being added, and there's little new spending. The Executive Policy Committee tabled the document Thursday at Winnipeg City Hall.  

The city's budget is $26 million dollars more than last year. Instead of hiking property taxes, a number of new user fees will be added.

The list includes a $20 fee for an alarm permit, it'll cost you more for property and development permits, and now you'll pay more to lease city facilities, and to take your garbage to the dump.

Budget highlights include:

  • No increase in property taxes;
  • Focused investment on public safety and infrastructure.
  • Maintain enhanced level of clean and green programs.
  • Additional $1 million in Aboriginal Youth programming.
  • Increased tipping fees to external customers to encourage sound environmental practices.
  • Strategic new investments including a Rapid Transit Infrastructure Reserve.
  • Efficiencies in operations.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says you shouldn't be fooled by the property tax freeze.

"It's the quintessential government art of giving with one hand and taking with the other," said federation spokesperson Adrienne Batra. "You can go through the budget and find a huge number of increases."

One of those increases is a proposed 5 per cent hotel tax that would be used to fund the Winnipeg Convention Centre, Destination Winnipeg and create a special events acquisition fund.

"That's going to kill jobs," said Jim Baker of the Manitoba Hotel Association. "There's no two ways about it. Our industry is challenged as it is [with] passport issues and the American dollar."

The city plans to streamline its own bureaucracy; it will eliminate $3 million in payroll through staff cuts. The Canadian Union of Public Employees says Winnipeggers will notice a decrease in service.

"This is clearly going to be a cut in service," said union spokesperson Mike Davidson "We are going backward, not forward. Any time you cut services taxpayers will feel the ramifications of those cuts."

The city is also peeling back $400 thousand previously committed to public arts, and there's a $150 thousand reduction to the downtown revitalization company Centre Venture. Councillor Jenny Gerbasi finds the move "appalling".

"Where is our commitment to a downtown-first policy?" she said. "By funding our [downtown] agency less then the province is, I find, appalling. The public art fund is also appalling."

All the new money is going to pay current service demands and increasing salaries, as well as $2.75 million being put into a rapid transit fund and $1 million for aboriginal programming.

This budget also includes a 2009 and 2010 financial forecast. Under current spending and funding the city will be almost $40 million short next year, and $55 million short the year after.

Covering the predicted future imbalance would require a substantial property tax hike. Mayor Sam Katz says the freeze on property taxes will end unless there are changes in the way the city collects revenues.

Katz said he wants more money from the federal and provincial governments. He said currently 8 cents of every tax dollar goes to cities. Property taxes make up more than half the money needed for the balance the operating budget, while expenditures increase and revenues decrease.

Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty was in Winnipeg today, making an unrelated announcement. He said the move to share the gasoline tax will give cities extra cash.

"The sharing of gas tax that will give the cities large and small to lever that for public infrastructure projects," he said. "That's $2 billion a year every year for the cities and towns."

And it appears Manitoba Premier Gary Doer won't be coming up with any new funding any time soon.

"I think our increase to the city budget represented 33 per cent of their revenue this year, which is probably higher than any other province in Canada," he said.

Councillors will now begin debating aspects of the budget. The debate could still result in a property tax hike.

"If we are able to maintain the freeze for the eleventh straight year, unless you see changes, don't count on it again in the future," Katz said in a previous interview. 

The operating budget will be presented at a special City Council meeting held March 26th, 2008.

With a report from CTV's Kevin Armstrong