council WHOLE

The TImmins Chamber of Commerce is weighing on the city’s budget process.

President Kurt Bigeau says just because the Core Services Review is out to the public, it doesn’t mean the 20/20 Strategic Plan should fall by the wayside.

“We would also urge you once again to revisit those Timmins 2020 Strategic Plan reports that have yet to see any substantive discussion by Council. There are several such reports, including the Housing Report as well as the Tourism, Culture and Recreation Report, which were submitted to council in 2014 but were discussed either briefly or not at all. Whether you decide to implement any or none of their recommendations, they are worth real debate, given the money and energy invested by the City, the taxpayers, and countless community partners. Similarly, we fully appreciate that the City has only recently taken over duties for implementation of the plan. There will of course be an understandable transition period as staff looks to continue the momentum as initially provided by Clearlogic Consulting.”

He also described the Chamber’s concern for the possibility of road tolls to help fund infrastructure projects.

“While the Chamber supports municipal efforts to seek appropriate funding from appropriate levels of government, industry already pays its “toll” in the form of taxes. Should this process continue to move forward, we would very strongly insist that Timmins’ business community be involved in the conversation at the very outset, given the significant impact this could have on all sectors, and not just heavy industry.”

The Chamber’s also seeking a formal plan from the city on what will happen when the Kidd Mine shuts down.  Bigeau also mentioned how local businesses can’t keep shouldering the load of property taxes.  He says there simply isn’t enough businesses to help out and that’s why residential  property assessment values have sky rocketed in Timmins over the last five years.