Group of Calgary city councillors to propose amendments to cut budget spending
[Excerpt] By Adam MacVicar
A group of five Calgary city councillors are planning to bring forward a slew of changes during this week’s budget deliberations in an effort to reduce the proposed overall property tax increase of 3.6 per cent.
“What we’re saying is even if we can find one per cent, we’re alleviating burden on Calgarians right now,” Sharp told reporters.
If approved, Sharp believes the list of changes could result in a reduction of $70 million in operating spending and another $4 million in capital investments. However, the amendments have not yet been made public.
“We really wanted to make sure we weren’t impacting transit, safety, front-line services. We went in deeper and said ‘what will not affect Calgarians right up front?’” Sharp said. “We’re not going in to cut transit, we’re not cutting police or fire.”
One of the amendments listed in the news release, proposed by Sharp and McLean, calls for the consolidation of the the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) positions to “eliminate redundant, high-cost roles and save taxpayer dollars.”
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