Weyburn's municipal government received the second-highest rating in the province from the city's business community, according to a survey conducted by a business lobby group.

Weyburn was behind only Prince Albert in the survey of Saskatchewan cities by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), and placed fourth when Saskatchewan was combined with Manitoba, ahead of Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

According to the survey, 10 per cent of respondents felt Weyburn's municipal government was performing well, 61 per cent gave a fair rating, and 29 per cent said city government performed poorly. Behind Weyburn in the survey was Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Regina, Saskatoon, with Estevan in last place.

"I'm very happy to see that Weyburn is close to the top when it comes to what small businesses feel. There's no doubt by working together we can get our ratings even higher. It's a step in the right direction," said Mayor Don Schlosser.

The city can improve its standings with the business community by improving its communication and keeping businesses better informed about what they're doing, he said, adding this rating can be used when talking to businesses looking to relocate here.

The CFIB noted a large turn-around in the approval ratings for Regina's city government, attributed to their phase-out of the business tax; Mayor Schlosser felt this will also improve Weyburn's image, as they are in their final year of a three-year phase-out of its business tax.

Among concerns listed in the survey results is the feeling among business owners that municipalities rely too much on property taxes. The CFIB recommended that municipalities should focus on the business sector as a whole rather than on individual companies, they should remove business barriers, show fairness in how taxes are administered, and show evidence of cost effectiveness.

City council is joining with a province-wide lobby effort to continue asking Ottawa for financial help for Saskatchewan's farmers.

An urgent request for support came from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) for council to back their efforts at lobbying the federal government along with the Farm Income Coalition, which includes the Sask. Wheat Pool, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, the NDP-Liberal coalition government, the Sask. Party and various farm groups and organizations.

A number of options were presented to council how they could support the coalition's efforts, and Weyburn council opted to send a letter of support and concern, with copies to go to the ministers of finance and agriculture, MP Ralph Goodale and all Saskatchewan MPs.

"We sent a letter last month from SEREDA (Southeast Regional Economic Development Association) to the prime minister in support of the delegation going to Ottawa. Not only did he not respond, we didn't even get a response that he got the letter. It's very frustrating," said Coun. Ray Hamm.

SUMA and the coalition are collecting all of the letters of support and petitions to give to the Saskatchewan MPs, who will present them in the House of Commons in the near future. Council was told it was imperative to get the information in right away as the federal government is working on its 2000-2001 budget.

Members of council were upset to hear the Santa Claus decoration in the centre of downtown, at Souris Avenue and Third Street, would not be installed this year.

In a memo from fire Chief Denis Pilon, council was told there was a risk in causing damage to the aerial ladder truck used to lift the decoration in place, and a risk that the chains, clamps and cables used to hold the decorations in place may not be safe. All other decorations have been put up by the fire department.

"Over the past number of years we have received numerous negative comments about the Santa and the Christmas tree. People have stated that these decorations are old and shoddy-looking and no longer resemble Christmas traditions," Chief Pilon added in his memo, a point disputed by the mayor.

"I wish this would've come to our attention a month or two ago so we could've done something about it. Secondly, I'm concerned about there being negative comments. I have yet to receive one. A lot of people have said to me this year, 'where are the centrepieces at the intersection?' There's not much we can do about it at this time. It kind of disturbs me," said Mayor Don Schlosser.

Coun. Bill Rudachyk concurred, noting he used to run a business at that corner and heard far more positive comments than negative ones about the decorations.

A request from the Wheatland Seniors Centre to extend their tax break for another five years was tabled by council until their budget deliberations in the new year.

The seniors centre is coming to the end of a five-year agreement, under which they only pay 50 per cent of their property tax bill; the agreement was asked for when grants werecut back by the provincial government. The agreement comes to an end on Dec. 31, 1999.

In the letter to council from Lynell Husum, it was noted that paid staff in the areas of maintenance and food preparation were replaced by volunteers by members of the centre. The centre was able to reduce their salary dollars by two-thirds as a result, and continued to offer the same services to their members.

The centre will be helping to host the seniors summer games next year, and many of their members will be volunteering to assist in that event.

Mayor Schlosser met with the Wheatland group on this issue, and told them council could only deal with their portion of the city taxes. The school boards will have to approve the request for their portion of the tax bill.

"In the financial statement they provided, you'll see they don't have too much to deal with; mostly everything is on a volunteer basis to make ends meet," said the mayor.

Coun. Marlene Nedelcov moved the tax break be granted for the next five years, but this was tabled by Coun. Rudachyk so the matter could be considered within their budget deliberations.

City council passed the mill rate factor bylaw on Monday to complete the shift of the tax burden required by the removal of the business tax. The business tax has been phased out over the last two years, and will be completely removed in 2000.

As a result, one per cent will be added to residential tax classes, and the remaining 6.2 per cent added to the commercial/industrial classifications.

The overall result, explained city controller Stan Runne, is that the residential sector has absorbed one-quarter of the business tax, and the commercial/industrial sector has picked up the remaining 75 per cent. For the home owner with a property tax bill of $1,000, this shift will increase that tax bill by $10.

Council will consider a request from the Weyburn Arts Council to restore a $3,000 grant which was cut last year. In their request to council, it was indicated the arts council had a deficit in its operating budget as a result of the grant cut by city council last year.

The arts council pointed out their budget includes managing the city's Permanent Collection, which was appraised in 1993 at a value of $45,170. The appraisal will have to be redone in 2000 for the works added to the collection since then.

Runne told council the organization has carried forward a significant bank balance, but much of it is in reserves. Without the restoration of the grant, those reserves will have to be used in the upkeep of the Permanent Collection as well as repairs and maintenance. The grant has been put into the draft budget, said Runne, and will be considered by council when the budget is finalized.

Due to the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the next council meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 20, instead of Dec. 27.