Elliot Lake Mayor Dan Marchisella favoured a greater reserve allocation but in the end voted with the rest of council for this year's budget and a 2.57 per cent tax increase.
It was formalized Monday night during a virtual City Council meeting.
Council in Budget Committee decided against three other operating budget alternatives in the weeks leading up to Monday night's decision. They would have meant a bigger property tax hike than the $83 increase for a home assessed at $95,000, which was finally approved.
Councillor Ed Pearce was highly critical of the 2021 budget, which he voted to support, nonetheless.
"I would agree with Councillor (Norman) Mann, that this budget is a compromise, but also state unequivocally that I don't like this budget," he said. "I don't like anything about it. I think this is a do-nothing budget. I think it puts our community at risk.
"But at least four members of this council have decided that no matter what, they do not want to increase taxes under any circumstances. So it was a losing battle.
"You and I, Mr. Mayor, suggested a compromise where we were going to put $200,000 into the reserves, over and above what's allocated. That was turned down," continued Pearce.
"We then offered another compromise of $100,000 and that was turned down the following meeting.
"I made a suggestion to the committee that we take money out of the library reserve, move it into the general reserves. And that we could look at the money from the transportation, as we're not currently charging anybody for using our bus service.
"We could start reintroducing that and that would have added up to $170,000 into the operating budget, without increasing taxes. And again, that was turned down.
"I will support this budget because we need to move on. I would serve notice to everybody that I think the reserves are seriously depleted, they have to be reintroduced or to be replenished," concluded Pearce.
One of the strongest advocates for a bare bones budget was Councillor Luc Cyr.
"I think this is a budget that reflects the times we're in right now. We are in a global pandemic that calls for some restraint in our spending," Cyr said. "I mean, it would be nice to spend as much as we dream and wish. But that would be irresponsible. I think we have to set priorities.There's so much uncertainty in not only the provincial economies but also the national economies and the international economies.
"We can't just willy nilly start spending, just because we want a certain percentage. I mean, we have many people that are out of work that want to work but that can't work. We have to be cognizant.
"And, you know, we have to be cautious during this pandemic. I mean, we'd all want to have more money in the coffers, but right now is not that time. So I'm thankful for that we've got this budget, and I'm thankful the council showed restraint," concluded Cyr.
Councillor Sandy Finamore explained, "We didn't do a zero budget. We did a 2.57 budget. So that is a tax increase."
"I know that staff have worked split shifts in order to accommodate what's going on with the COVID pandemic. I know that in Mr. Halloch's department (Public Works), he had to split his department in half and have them work different shifts in order to do what we needed to do within the city. Staff have worked from home and staff have made great sacrifices for the City of Elliott Lake.
"Hopefully this budget will enable them to do what they need to do this next year," concluded Finamore.
Mayor Dan Marchisella voted against the operating budget in committee but ended up supporting it in council, making the vote in favour, unanimous.
"The first year that I sat as a member of council, we had approximately 54 homes in a neighbourhood of the city that went all winter without water. They pay taxes," the mayor said.
"I've seen in the years since the neighbourhood storm and sewer drains get collapsed and crushed. There wasn't planning done years and years ago for this type of of cycle. And I'm sorry but it's not frivolous spending again on beautification," he added.
"This is all about ensuring critical infrastructure's in place and unfortunately, part of the planning was at lower dollars than the actual cost now," concluded the mayor.
Budget Committee chair Norman Mann said, "This year, the treasurer took a different approach and brought us the best case scenario, and again as lean as possible. There were definitely some increases over previous years.
"We had significant conversations regarding reserve funds, what our reserves look like today, what they will look like in 2025. If we don't do some considerable changes to how we manage the funds of the municipality.
"What was finally recommended to council was a global percentage increase on the 2020 levy of 2.57 per cent. That equates to approximately $365,000 increase over last year's expenditures, and one significant increase in that number was definitely a premium increase on the municipalities overall insurance premiums," concluded Mann.
"I don't think any significant efficiencies were found, either by staff or by the committee, in order to trim the budget any further," Councillor Tom Turner said. "I have to give everybody credit for giving it their best try. As for the reserve expenditures that we are going through this year, there's nothing frivolous in those expenditures. They're well thought out, they were planned.
"That's what reserves are for, planned future expenditures, apparently. That is my concern, future expenditures. I think we're going to have difficulty funding. I don't want to leave it to the next council, that it's their job," Turner concluded.
Councillor Chris Patrie said he was pleased with the lean tax hike.
"The only reason that I am in agreement with it is because of the reports that we did receive from the treasurer," he said. "That equates to less than the insurance increase with that amount of levy percentage increase. So the increase in the insurance follows more than that, up. I think she has done a great job. There's a million dollars in increase in revenue that this council has approved.
"I'm going to be extremely concerned when we start to look at next year's budget because there's some numbers that she has taken out for staff positions that will have to be replaced next year.
"There's $350,000 out of the budget in staffing and recreation. That is part of the places where she's gotten that money and some of those positions will have to come back in 2021," Patrie explained.
Patrie also touched on reserves and this year's capital budget.
"There's also $3,221,858 going into reserve in this budget, which normally I would be opposed to," he said. "But I'm not pleased with the capital budget. When you're spending $9.5 million out of reserves, you're not spending responsibly.
Patrie concluded, "As the treasurer stated in our committee meetings, we're going to be in trouble within a few years if we keep spending this way."