The high school student monthly pass will come to an end as of July 1 and the senior annual pass will be cancelled as of January 2016.

The fare increases won’t take effect until late April and are expected to bring in about $750,000 in new revenue for the city next year.

Ward 5 councillor Carolyn Parrish asked staff to report back on the impact of providing low-income seniors with a discounted rate, such as a $1 ride during non-peak hours.

Meanwhile, Ward 9 councillor Pat Saito said she’s never really happy raising transit fares but called the new prices “reasonable.”

It will also cost a little more to rent any of the city’s 22 ice pads with a 2 per cent increase approved today (Wednesday, Dec. 10) that’s expected to bring in an additional $100,000. Hershey SportZone rates are also increasing by 2 per cent across the board, which will mean $100,000 more for the city in 2015.

There’s also a 4 per cent sport field rental increase. As an example, it will cost a resident $12.48 per hour to rent a lit soccer field (an increase of 48 cents).

It’s also going to cost a little more to adopt animals as the city increased its fees to cover the costs of spaying and neutering, de-worming and microchip installation. It will cost $177.33 to adopt a dog from a city shelter (up from $152) and $126 for a cat (up from $111.50).

A plan to increase the fee residents pay to apply to the Committee of Adjustment for a minor variance – now $900, up from $800 – stuck in Saito’s craw.

“I just can’t continue to swallow this,” said Saito. “Nine hundred dollars is a huge fee for the average resident to have to pay.”

Ward 6 councillor Ron Starr concurred, adding some of the applications were over very minor matters and the cost was too high for relatively unimportant changes necessary to comply with municipal bylaws.

“It’s silly, I think we have to take a look at it again,” he said.

Staff will look into the matter and the possibility of a tiered system of fees and will report back.

Prior to the budget discussions, councillors were introduced to the city’s new budget website that’s designed to make the document easier for residents to understand. A link can be found at the city’s website and also includes an interactive tool for citizen feedback.

Further budget meetings are slated throughout January and early February, with Feb. 11 tabbed as the day councillors will hopefully give their final approval to the document.