Back to Work for Thunder Bay Council

THUNDER BAY – CIVIC – It is back to work after a three week break. City Council gets back to it tonight heading into what is expected to be a session starting to focus on the 2015 Budget.

Council face some real challenges over the coming weeks. Several members of Council, including the Mayor have openly mused about tax increases of up to 7-10 per cent. Issues over how MPAC ruling on industrial land tax rates have hit the city hard with millions in lost revenues.

Moving toward the coming weeks, Council also will receive and make an official statement on a proposal from CN Rail on the James Street Bridge. It is seemingly lost on most that the well over 100-year-old structure would be a good candidate for replacement. Currently the proposal from CN is to offer one-way traffic controlled by safety lights.

The coming Monday nights, for City Council are likely going to stressful. Getting the budget done is going to take a lot of work, and some late nights. Ensuring that taxpayers are happy or at least supportive is going to take a lot of work.

Council will also face dealing with Thunder Bay’s homicide rate, and the impact of a year with eleven homicides.

Concerns over roads, snow clearing, water and sewer rates, and the event centre are likely to top the charts.