Budget freeze proposal melts away in defeat

Timmins city council is moving away from a request by Councillor Joe Campbell to freeze the 2018 budget to 2017 levels.

Campbell cites uncertain times ahead, and wanted to have staff come back with a detailed report on the city’s economic future from 2018 up to 2021.

This was deferred from the previous council meeting so Campbell could get the opportunity to clean it up a bit.

But even then, councillors around the table weren’t too keen on it and despite an hour-long discussion Tuesday night, it was still defeated by a 6-2 vote (Campbell and Councillor Rick Dubeau voted against, while Councillor Andrew Marks was not at council).

Much of the discussion was rehashed from their meeting October 24th.

Consensus around the table is that they can accomplish a fiscally responsible ledger by moving through the 2018 budget process like they normally would.

Budget meetings resume next week.

CLICK HERE to see Campbell’s resolution written out.

CLICK HERE to see the video from Tuesday’s meeting, under Item 6B.