The 2025 preliminary budget for Winnipeg, unveiled last week, proposes a 5.95% property tax increase, the city’s largest in 34 years. Mayor Scott Gillingham defends the increase as a response to years of underfunding, growing service demands, and a depleted Financial Stabilization Reserve (FSR), all of which happened under his watch. However, the question remains: does this budget represent good fiscal management, or is it yet another example of unchecked spending with no meaningful efforts to find efficiencies?
Mayor Gillingham claims, “This budget reflects what we’ve heard from Winnipeggers.” However, the city’s polling data relied on fewer than 400 respondents. Can such a small sample size accurately represent the views of a city of over 800,000 people? How much taxpayer money was spent on this poll, merely to validate the decisions he already made?
The mayor also insists on the need to rebuild the Financial Stabilization Reserve Fund, which is a legal requirement, not a feat of sound financial governance he wants you to believe. As finance chair for years before his election as mayor, Gillingham was well aware of Winnipeg’s fiscal challenges. Yet his solution, both then and now, has been to ask taxpayers for more, year after year. Since Gillingham took office, property taxes have risen over 25%. Meanwhile, there have been no significant cost-cutting measures, no operational efficiencies, and no elimination of the bloated spending accounts enjoyed by city councillors.
When pressed on spending reductions, the administration offered a single, underwhelming proposal: adjust snow-clearing thresholds from 10 to 15 centimetres of snowfall, which could save a few million dollars. Is this a serious strategy for addressing the city’s budget shortfall? While residents may endure fewer plowed streets, councillors like Evan Duncan, Janice Lukes, and Devi Sharma maintain multiple taxpayer-funded offices, costing tens of thousands of dollars annually. Rookie Councillor Evan Duncan alone spends over $11,000 annually to have his photo on bus bench ads. Where is the fiscal restraint in this?
Adding insult to injury, the city continues to siphon $40 million annually from the Water and Waste Department — money that should fund infrastructure upgrades but instead disappears into general revenue. Residents are bracing for significant water and sewer rate hikes in 2025 to fund long-overdue upgrades. But where was the urgency or fiscal responsibility during Gillingham’s tenure as finance chair?
Fees across the board are also increasing. Garbage fees will rise, transit fares will go up, and a costly upgrade to the 911 system is forthcoming. Yet, basic operational inefficiencies remain unaddressed. For instance, the city refuses to tackle the problem of fare evasion on public transit, which costs taxpayers millions annually. Instead, these losses are simply passed on to paying riders.
Gillingham points out that Winnipeg’s taxes and fees are still lower than those of Edmonton, Ottawa, or Vancouver, arguing that if Winnipeg taxed at similar rates, it would generate $700 to $800 million more annually. This claim is misleading. Real Estate Magazine and others reveal that Greater Vancouver has the lowest property taxes, with a residential property tax rate of approximately 0.28%. By comparison, Winnipeg’s rate of 2.64% is significantly higher. The narrative that Winnipeg is under-taxed simply doesn’t hold up.
The budget does include funding for 18 additional police officers this year and next, which is a step in the right direction. However, it’s unclear whether these positions are in addition to the officers already funded by the provincial government. Without clarity, this announcement feels more like spin than substance.
What’s notably absent from the budget is any mention of a zero-based budgeting approach. Zero-based budgeting starts each fiscal year from scratch, requiring every department to justify its expenditures anew. This method ensures a thorough review of all spending and helps identify areas where savings can be achieved. It’s a far cry from Winnipeg’s current approach, where historical budgets are simply adjusted upward without a critical examination of what’s truly necessary.
For example, why hasn’t the city scrutinized its administrative overhead? How many redundant positions and programs could be consolidated or eliminated? Why hasn’t the city reduced the size of its vehicle fleet or implemented energy-saving measures for municipal buildings? Instead of making hard decisions, the administration opts for the easy route: demand more from taxpayers.
Leadership requires more than finding new ways to tax people. It demands vision, discipline, and a willingness to make tough choices. Cities like Calgary and Saskatoon have implemented successful cost-saving measures, such as public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects and competitive bidding for city services. These cities understand that fiscal responsibility isn’t just about balancing budgets but also about earning the trust of taxpayers.
Mayor Gillingham and Councillor Jeff Browaty, who chairs the finance committee, lack this vision. Neither has executive experience managing a corporation, and it shows. Their expertise lies in managing taxpayer funds — a seemingly endless resource in their view. This lack of real-world financial management experience leaves taxpayers footing the bill for their learning curve.
Winnipeggers deserve better. They deserve a government that respects their hard-earned money, seeks efficiencies, and delivers value. A government that doesn’t just ask for more but does more with what it has. A government willing to implement a zero-based budget review, eliminate wasteful expenditures, and prioritize essential services.
The 2025 budget, as it stands, is a missed opportunity to demonstrate fiscal responsibility. It’s a continuation of the same old pattern: increase taxes, raise fees, and hope no one notices the lack of meaningful cuts or efficiencies. This budget is a profound disappointment for a mayor who campaigned on promises of fiscal prudence.
We simply can’t afford this administration. In our households, we constantly find ways to cut costs and reevaluate expenses because governments continue to take more from us. Consider the facts: had this government approved major development projects like the Parker Lands, it could have generated tens of millions in additional property tax revenue without further reaching into our pockets. But poor management and bureaucracy got in the way, so we have to pay more.
Let’s be honest—I wouldn’t mind paying more if services had significantly improved. But they haven’t; in fact, they’ve deteriorated. How can I trust the mayor when he claims that paying more will solve the issues, especially when he’s been overseeing the city’s finances for a decade? The Gillingham administration hasn’t proven they deserve to ask for more from us. Under his leadership, things haven’t improved—they have become more expensive. This administration has consistently failed to show fiscal discipline, and I can’t support a government that spends $3 on what you or I would get for $1.
Winnipeggers need a government committed to finding savings and maximizing value by demonstrating fiscal responsibility. With taxpayers having limited capacity to handle ongoing increases, efficient use of existing resources is essential—something this administration has consistently failed to achieve.
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