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HALIFAX, N.S. —

A budget windfall could help Halifax Regional Municipality prop up its tree-planting program.

“We are looking at an additional $4.5 million in property tax, so that equates to three-quarters of a per cent variation,” Jane Fraser, chief financial officer for the municipality, told regional councillors at Wednesday's budget meeting.

The slight uptick in the assessment roll pushes residential property tax and transit tax revenues up by $6.6 million, primarily through growth in new apartments and an assessment increase on existing apartments, Fraser said.

Commercial tax revenue is $1.7 million lower than projected and results in the overall $4.5-million tax revenue increase when resource tax and payments in lieu of taxes from federal properties are factored in.

The municipality has calculated an operating budget surplus of $16.2 million as of Dec. 31, driven primarily by deed transfer taxes.

Fraser said that surplus will fall next year because the increase in deed transfer tax is being built into the operating budget for 2021.

Fraser said a risk to the surplus exists in the vagaries of winter weather that could drive up street plowing and sidewalk clearing costs, along with potentially fluctuating costs of commodities like salt and fuel.

Fraser said there are options on how to use the funds but suggested that conversation would be better suited for the discussion about parking lot or over-budget adjustment asks by the different municipal units.

Council has the option to look at reducing the planned increase in debt or to adjust the recommended 1.5 per cent increase to the average tax bill.

“The most important thing in any options that get discussed is sustainability,” Fraser said. “If we are using money from the surplus, that is one-time money so we should be directing that to one-time costs. The $4.5 million is an assessment rate increase, growth in the assessment base that will be translated year over year so there's ongoing potential revenue from that.”

Fraser said if the surplus is directed to capital to reduce debt, the debt would fall by $3.3 million instead of increasing by $17.4 million.

“That would be directing the full $16.2-million surplus,” Fraser said. “Obviously, there are options within how much goes to debt, any or all of it.”

Fraser said if council chooses to avoid an increase in the residential tax rate, that would require $770,000 and keeping both residential and commercial rates flat would require $1.83 million.

She said if all $4.5 million of the additional tax revenue is directed to tax bills, the average residential property tax bill would increase by $15 instead of a projected $30.

Fraser's overview gave way to a presentation from transportation and public works, which projected an $89.4-million budget for 2020-21, including $105 million in expenditures and $16 million in revenue.

The TPW budget ask included an additional $200,000 for trees to be considered as an over-budgeted parking lot item. Council considered a $400,000 addition to the tree-planting program last year but settled for a $200,000 increase instead.

Mayor Mike Savage said adding another $200,000 to bring the annual tree-planting budget beyond $1 million is the line he's not willing to cross.

“I don't try to lecture councillors, I don't suggest that I have the wisdom because I know that there are a lot smarter people here than I,” Savage said. “I won't support this. We have $6.6 million in the parking lot, not counting today, not counting planning and development, not counting parks and rec, not counting police and not counting fire. There are few things that we all love more than trees … but we're looking at a lot of other things that are important, too.”

Savage said council could consider using some of the surplus to offset a portion of the projected hike in average residential property tax bills.

Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre) argued that 1,720 trees were planted in 2019-20 and 1,700 more were projected to be planted in 2021-22 but the numbers still left the municipality at only 66 per cent of its tree-planting target. The influx of $200,000 would provide for 400 more trees.

“I think it's worth it, especially in regards to the work that's going on regarding climate change in haliFACT,” Austin said. “The best investment you can make in terms of mitigation — there are all kinds of people out there trying to come up with technology to sequester carbon — it's growing right out there and nature is giving it to us. There is no municipal asset that increases in value (like trees) year after year.”

Council eventually voted 8-6 to put the tree-planting addition into the parking lot, along with $34,000 to double the number of contracted special constables from six to 12 to ticket and tow winter parking ban violators between 1 and 6 a.m.

Council also voted to push a parking meter ticket fine up to $35 from $25 when the new meter technology becomes available this year. That parking lot item, if approved, would add about $350,000 in revenue to TPW coffers.

Budget deliberations continue Friday, with parks and recreation and planning and development presenting to council.