The mounting cost of police and fire service, City employees鈥� salary increases and the price of replacing aging infrastructure were among the main talking points when 91原创 City residents and municipal staff got together to go over the 2011 budget.

About 20 people attended the open house inside 91原创 Community Music School on Wednesday night as chief financial officer, Darrin Leite outlined the City鈥檚 proposed budget for the coming year, which includes a roughly three per cent tax increase, on average.

Unlike federal and provincial governments, municipalities cannot legally budget a deficit and so the City will need to raise $20 million in property taxes this year in addition to another $18 million, which it will collect through sewer, water, garbage and recycling fees, in order to cover its expenses, Leite explained.

Once again, the main cost driver for the City is wages, with staff in the final year of a five-year contract which gives them a four per cent wage increase this year.

The City also plans to add three new positions, including two part-time staff at City Hall and one full-time staff member at the operations centre, for a total increase of $110,640. With the hirings set to take place in July, the impact on the 2011 budget would be $55,320, with the full annual amount being included in the 2012 budget.

Meanwhile, the cost of policing is up $310,000 in 91原创 City. That accounts strictly for wage increases, not additional officers on the streets.

Asked why the City鈥檚 taxes are rising every year when it receives millions in revenue from Cascades Casino, Leite explained those funds, which are expected to be in the $6 million range again this year, can be used for capital projects and other one-time only expenditures.

Capital projects in the works for 2011 include putting $2 million toward the $6 million reconstruction of Timms Recreation Centre and an installment of just under $3 million toward the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor project, to which the City has committed more than $8 million.

鈥淗ad we not had casino proceeds, we would have had to borrow the money,鈥� said Leite, adding that paying interest on loans effectively doubles the cost of any project.

To date, the City has used casino proceeds to purchase a fire engine, to buy the 91原创 Prairie site from the school district, pay off its water debt, make improvements to 208 Street and help build a new Fraser Highway bridge, among other projects.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 $30 million added to the community that we wouldn鈥檛 have had,鈥� Leite said.

With 2011 being an election year, the $45,000 cost of running an election will be taken from surplus funds, because it is considered a one-time expenditure.

Following the presentation, several people chastised the City, suggesting tax dollars are being spent recklessly.

鈥淓xpenditures have gone overboard,鈥� said business property owner Kevin Granger-Brown.

He referred to a near 100 per cent increase in spending since 2004.

鈥淢y income doesn鈥檛 go up by 100 per cent. In my opinion there should be a decrease in property tax.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rampantly out of control, I couldn鈥檛 allow it in business. Municipalities should be run like a business.鈥�

Citing figures published in a daily newspaper, another man said taxes in the City have risen 48 per cent over and above inflation.

鈥淚鈥檓 paying $750 more in taxes than I should be paying. The bottom line is municipalities have been overspending.鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檙e basically sucking people dry and we need to rein things in.鈥�

Many of the budget items are simply out of the City鈥檚 control, including policing costs, overtime pay for firefighters who serve as first responders for all medical 911 calls, and CUPE salary increases, said CAO Francis Cheung.

When the municipal employees鈥� contract was negotiated in 2007, the economy was booming, Cheung said.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be trying very hard to minimize wage increases.鈥�

Some residents offered their own suggestions for cutting costs, including having garbage picked up every two weeks instead of weekly and canceling green waste pick up in the winter when there is little or nothing left out for collection.

Toward the end of the two-hour session, Mayor Peter Fassbender spoke, defending both the budget and City鈥檚 staff, amid suggestions the municipality is not running as lean as it could be.

He said he鈥檚 aware of many extra hours staff put in for which the City isn鈥檛 charged. And, he added, there is a demand from the public for a certain level of service.

鈥淲hen the public has a question, a need or a complaint, they want it fixed or dealt with now,鈥� he said.

Regarding the wage increases, Fassbender said the issue is being addressed, and the best thing the City can do 鈥� unlike some communities which have suggested they will opt out 鈥� is remain a part of the labour relations bureau which bargains with CUPE on behalf of Lower Mainland municipalities.

鈥淲e (91原创 City) don鈥檛 have a lot of clout. The worst thing we can do is see (the bureau) fall apart, because then we don鈥檛 have a collective voice.

鈥淭he bureau is saying 鈥榸ero, zero and zero.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we鈥檙e oblivious or that it鈥檚 not being addressed. Nothing you鈥檙e saying is foreign to us,鈥� he told the crowd.

鈥淲e鈥檝e talked about (garbage) pick up every two weeks, but there are contracts in place right now.鈥�

Council has gone over every item in the financial plan and made decisions about each one, he said.

Regarding having firefighters attend medical 911 calls, the mayor said: 鈥淎ll communities struggle with the first responder agreement put into place (with the province).鈥�

But people who are in distress don鈥檛 care who comes, as long as someone comes quickly, he said.

In B.C. right now, ambulance service is simply inadequate, said Fassbender, referring to a car crash where firefighters arrived and stabilized the victim well before an ambulance, which had to come all the way from Hope, arrived.

鈥淚f there had been no firefighters on scene . . . they would have been dead,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he model and delivery system needs to change. It鈥檚 not cost-efficient.鈥�

Crime is also very different than it used to be, Fassbender said. Borders no longer mean anything, when it comes to drugs and gangs, and the division of costs between the federal and municipal governments needs to change, he said. Currently the federal government pays 10 per cent of policing costs as compared to the 40 per cent it used to pay, he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e fighting hard to change the ratio of what we pay versus the feds.鈥�