The age-old debate of taxes versus value for services was reignited Thursday at city hall as more than 50 people lined up to give input at a public hearing on the city's budgets for 2020 to 2023.

The business community urged the city to stop raising taxes.

Janet Riopel, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, told council she's lobbied all levels of government about the costs to small and medium-sized businesses.

"It has to stop," Riopel said Thursday evening. "This piling-on of costs, these taxes, fees, levies, this new legislation — all of that is breaking the backs of business."

Riopel said the chamber has presented its position to the city for the past five years in hopes of seeing a change in approach.

Janet Riopel, president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, told council there's a climate of fear among small- and medium-sized businesses in Edmonton. (Nathan Gross/CBC) "There is a feeling of great fear, I would say, in the business community and some are just losing hope."

Adam Guiney, the owner of manufacturing business Antrim Industries Ltd., told council he has had to cut 40 per cent of his staff and has rolled back wages and benefits in recent years.

"There's only so much you can squeeze, there's only so much you can sharpen the pencil," Guiney said.

The manufacturing industry competes on an international market, Guiney said, with most of his customers in the U.S. and the Middle East.

Compared to their counterparts in Texas, he said expenses in Alberta are far higher. He's considering a move to the Lone Star State unless Edmonton creates a more competitive environment.

"We cannot be taxed under the same category as retail for example that operates at higher margins and pays basic minimum wages."

Riopel noted that businesses continue to re-evaluate their operations regularly and are looking for the same from the city.

'We haven't championed any particular capital project," Riopel said. "We need you to question those things, to query them."

Coun. Ben Henderson said he's worried cutbacks and layoffs will have a spiral effect and end up putting people out of work.

"If we start really pulling back on our infrastructure spend, at the same time the province starts pulling back on its infrastructure spend — we met with the construction industry a few weeks ago — that begins to be scary for them," he said.

"I worry if we start looking at the level of cuts that would take to get down to zero that we make that problem significantly worse."

Savings measures

The public hearing comes as the city considers how to save about $28.5 million in operating costs just to maintain the previously approved 2.6 per cent property tax increase in 2020.

In light of provincial budget cuts, the city is also facing a $184 million shortfall in infrastructure spending meaning it needs to find further savings if it wants to avoid raising taxes higher.

City administration estimates it could save $1.7 million if it closes four recreation facilities, according to a program and service review of facilities done last year. The findings are based on operating costs and cost recovery rates.

Joe Hewko, a patron of Eastglen Leisure Centre, one of the four identified for closure,​​​​ told council that a group of community volunteers is coming up with ways to operate the facility using current funding levels.

"We're saying don't close it for sure," Hewko said. "It's just not fair to compare one facility to another like that."

He said there's a long history of "under-funding" and "not improving the facility."

City council may also consider shelving major capital projects including the Lewis Farms Facility and Park, Coronation Community Recreation Centre, and the co-located Dispatch and Emergency Operations Centre.

Coun. Tim Cartmell suggested there's a fine line to revising decisions while maintaining confidence in the city.

"There's also this tension point," in re-examining choices, he said. "That we create risk, that we create this cloud of uncertainty, that we actually compromise ourselves or our city's ability to compete."

Council is scheduled to debate the operating and capital budgets starting Dec. 11.