City of Winnipeg releases budget for 2024

The City of Winnipeg released its second four-year balanced budget.

Budget includes additional services available to Winnipeggers; however, there are some price increases to make these services possible.

Mayor Scott Gillingham has kept a 3.5 percent property tax increase through 2027 in his four-year budget, keeping his campaign promise. Two percent of this increase will be used to invest in road maintenance.

Total payments will increase by five percent in 2024 and 2025, and then by 2.5 percent in 2026 and 2027.

Number. Jeff Broughati, chairman of the finance committee, said the overall fee increase is to keep up with inflation over the next four years, but the city has capped the increase at five percent.

Homeowners will have to pay more for garbage and recycling — from $70 to $80 — and a new $46 apartment and condo collection fee will be implemented in 2025.

Winnipeg Transit

Adult bus fares will begin increasing in annual $.10 jumps, but the rate will stop for low-income WINNpasses in 2024.

Some of the potential changes to transit include upgrading the automatic fare collection system, which will cost about $6.5 million; Safety shields for drivers in 2024 and four expanded routes in the city – Castlebury Meadows and Waterford Green, Aurora, Prairie Point and Sage Creek.

A public safety team will also be activated.

The City Council is directing transit to fully restore services by 2025.

The police

The city is considering implementing a new 911 fee for each city-registered phone. The cost is about $1 per phone per month and about $7.5 million per year. The money will be used to upgrade the 911 system, which could include sending text, photos and video to first responders. The city management notes that this is a similar experience in other cities of the country. The plan requires provincial approval.

“(The new 911 system) will cost about $10 million, so the budget recommends we take that step this year,” Broughati said.

Kate Kehler, executive director of the Winnipeg Social Planning Council, said she doesn't like the proposed 911 cost being added to phone bills.

“We're asking people who are already struggling to pay their phone bills to put in $1, $2, $3, $4 a month when we're already paying such high rates in Canada,” Kehler said.

Keler wants the city to have fairer property taxes and put them on a sliding scale, meaning higher property rates pay higher property taxes and lower rates pay lower taxes.

He believes that some of these new payments would not be necessary if the property tax collection method were changed.

The city is also in talks with the Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service to consider merging their 911 systems.

Swimming pools and splash pad

Changes will also be made to the number of swimming pools and splash pads operating in the city. As part of the budget, the city plans to replace or decommission 20 Winnipeg swimming pools, close three pools and invest $20 million to create 10 new splash pads in Winnipeg.

“The plan will phase out more infilled pools, which are often at the end of their functional lives and are costly to maintain and operate,” Broughati said.

Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500, said there are pros and cons to the budget.

“Unfortunately, we're seeing some swimming pools close, but on the positive side, we're seeing some growth in recreation facilities and libraries,” Delbridge said. “Overall, I think this budget will move us forward.”

He noted that he thinks some jobs will be lost with the closing of the pools.

“It's causing some concern for us.”

The civil service will also be asked to report in the fall of 2027 to provide a multi-year review of the Kinsmen Sherbrook Pool. The city seeks information on pool usage, annual revenue and operating costs.

A wooden roof

In the four-year budget, the city intends to increase the forestry budget by 45 percent. The increase will help the city meet its cutting goals more quickly, and will provide more funding to support the accelerated greening strategy in 2026 and 2027.

“This approach will help us achieve better outcomes for Winnipeg while balancing costs and benefits,” Broughati said.

Libraries

A new library is planned for the northwest part of the city, and funding from the budget will allow for similar opening hours and increased library security for Winnipeg's libraries.

Other budget expenditures

The city plans to increase its snow removal budget by about 40 percent over the next four years. The reason for the projected increase is to create an appropriate budget from the outset, as the city regularly goes over budget during snow removal.

Over four years, the city has proposed spending $81.4 million on active transportation, with about $30 million going toward road and bikeway safety.

Bike Winnipeg executive director Mark Coho said he's pleased with the focus on road safety in the budget, but noted more work is needed.

“We understand that we are a long way from what we need to be in active transportation,” Coho said. “That's one concern we see in the budget is that some of the larger projects don't necessarily reflect improvements in walking and cycling.”

He said he would like to see funding from multiple levels of government to help address some of the unfunded projects, such as a pedestrian bridge from Osborne Village to downtown, or a communication corridor now that the Arlington Bridge is closed.

Riverbank stabilization is also mentioned in the budget, and the city hopes to spend $3 million a year on the work.

The hotel tax will rise by one percentage point to six percent. The money will be used to fund beautification projects, and a portion will be used for capital improvements at the convention center.

The city is also putting another $500,000 into the green cart program. The money will be used for the first step of the project and consulting support in 2024.