Weyburn taxpayers will be paying five per cent more in municipal taxes to the City of Weyburn in 2004, or an increase of about $44 a year on an average home worth $80,000.

City council will set the preliminary mill rates at their Jan. 12 meeting, after holding a public budget meeting on Monday evening, in order to allow early payment of taxes, which allows a discount of three per cent if they are paid in January. The discount is reduced to two per cent in February and one per cent in March, and is then at par until August when penalties start to be added. Also, this only affects the municipal portion of taxes, which account for 48 per cent of what is paid in property taxes to the city; the school boards get the other 52 per cent.

The city's final mill rate won't be set until the provincial budget has been brought down, expected by about April. Depending on what the province brings down, the final mill rate may be lowered like last year, but Mayor Don Schlosser said taxpayers shouldn't count on it, as four of the five per cent increase is due to the first phase of the Colosseum renovations.

Nothing was put in the budget for the proposed skateboard park, or for Phase 2 of the Colosseum renovation, but Mayor Schlosser said this may also depend on what the province has in its budget.

If, for example, they grant the urban municipalities' request for funding from one cent a litre of fuel tax, that could mean as much as $200,000 for infrastructure projects in the city, he said.

Prior to approving the preliminary budget, city manager Bob Smith outlined the deletions made by administration and department heads, as council had requested at their retreat. Council directed that administration come in with budget requests that would raise taxes by no more than five per cent, including the four per cent for the Colosseum renovation.

Coun. Dick Michel commented that he felt this process of going through the budget was much better than going through it line-by-line for those watching the meeting at home, and hoped residents won't think that council short-changed them or is trying to hide anything.

As city manager Smith outlined the deletions, he noted some of them were restored at the request of council, so in the end their budget is $15,000 over the five per cent line, or 5.3 per cent.

"I hope the public doesn't perceive that the things that were taken out are things we don't care about," said Smith.

The list of deletions include reducing travel expenses for the city manager by $500; deleting a request from the Chamber of Commerce for banners encouraging downtown shopping worth $6,500; reducing the clothing expense budget for the police department by $1,000; reducing the office and travel expenses for the fire department by $2,000, and deleting a fire department request for a digital camera worth $500.

More banners and decorations for Sims Avenue worth $6,500 were also cut, along with a $2,500 request from the Building Department for a garage sale sign for the South Hill; the snow removal budget was cut by $45,000, along with $9,500 cut from street sanding (based on five-year averages), and $18,500 cut from flood control.

"If there's a bad flood, it will be taken out of reserves for future capital," said Smith, which would also be used if the snow removal budget goes over.

Later in the meeting, Mayor Schlosser noted the recent snowfall cost the city about $15,000 to clear away. He felt most streets were done well compared to neighbouring municipalities, despite the criticisms of some city residents unhappy with the snow clearing.

Administration was going to cut one free drop-off weekend at the landfill for the cleanup campaign, worth $3,000, but this was restored at the request of council.

Some parks-related cuts include $6,000 for boulevard trees, $8,000 for pea gravel for playgrounds, and $7,800 for a paved pathway to Tom Laing Park, as requested by the Sr. Beavers ball club.

Later Coun. Gary Frederickson asked if this item could be restored, by taking some of what he felt was excess funding for the IT computer contract.

He noted the city wants to eliminate parking along First Avenue, and that this park will be a facility used in the 2004 Summer Games. He said it is an excellent facility but with very poor accessibility, forcing use of the infield area last year.

Mayor Schlosser pointed out that parking on the infield was never allowed by the Weyburn Ag Society, and said the city needs to have further discussions with the Ag Society before deciding to do anything for the ball park.

Coun. Frederickson noted the budget included $20,500 for the IT computer contract, which works out to about $1,900 per computer; as the main IT technician at the Weyburn Comp, he said he's used to paying about $300 per machine for IT maintenance.

Finance director Jon Michaud said there is extra in that fund to handle whatever might come along for computer repairs.

"There is some padding to some extent, but not a lot," he added.

Other works-related cuts included cutting paving of the entrance road to the Soo Line Historical Museum, worth $90,600; recapping city parking lot No. 1 at a cost of $21,000 and upgrading the exhibition grounds sign at a cost of $27,000, along with planned renovations to a part of City Hall at a cost $7,400, and replacement of office equipment for $10,000.

Funding for phase two of upgrading Memorial Park was to be cut, but was retained at council's request. A fund for emergency repairs at Signal Hill, worth some $10.000, was cut, along with $35,000 out of the equipment pool and $19,000 set aside for a John Deere grass mower.

Coun. Frederickson asked if increases to Workmen's Compensation and insurance costs were factored in, and was told they are included, with a 12-14 per cent increase for WCB premiums and a 20-per-cent increase in insurance costs.

In outlining the impact of a five-per-cent increase to the average home owner, Smith said for an average home with a market value of $80,000, the tax increase would be about $43.79 or $3.65 per month. Broken down, for each $10,000 in property value, the increase is worth an additional $5.47 per year or 45¢ per month.

Smith also spelled out how the municipal tax dollar is divided up. Out of every $1 of municipal tax, 24¢ goes to transportation (which includes snow removal, city and traffic lights, lanes, gravelling, etc.); 19¢ to the police; 18¢ to recreation and culture; 12¢ to general government and administration; 9¢ for fire and other protective services; 6¢ for parks; 3¢ for the library; 5¢ for environment and public health; and 4¢ for economic development.

For this year's budget, general government expenditures decreased by 2.7 per cent; police costs went up by 4.1 per cent; fire services costs rose by 2.3 per cent; transportation services decreased by 10.5 per cent; environment and public health declined by 1.8 per cent; economic development services increased by 29.1 per cent (due mostly to different accounting for grants); recreation and culture went up by 12.5 per cent (due mostly to 2004's payment of $165,000 on the Colosseum); and library services increased by three per cent, while parks and playgrounds had no change.

Coupled with this are some impacts on the city's revenue and operating costs, such as a general salary increase this year of three per cent, an increase in insurance costs of $36,000, and an increase in fuel costs of $25,000, for a total cost increase of $346,000.