Prince George city council will be returning to the horseshoe tomorrow evening (Feb. 8) to finally decide on the 2021 tax rate.
Council has already approved the service categories within the 2021-2025 Financial Plan Final equating to a two per cent tax levy for 2021 but will have to decide how much of the province’s Safe Restart Grant to use in order to offset the tax hike.
Prince George was the recipient of $6.11 million from the grant, and it would take $3,052,375 to bring this year’s tax increase down to zero per cent.
Administration is recommending city council use $796,185 to reduce the tax levy and save the remaining $5.31 million for future uses.
After a lengthy discussion during the Jan. 27 budget meeting council deferred the decision until its next meeting.
Council will also have to consider whether to approve a police service enhancement requested from the Prince George RCMP.
RCMP Superintendent Shaun Wright has requested a service enhancement for two additional RCMP officers for internal training requirements which would focus on mandatory firearms use of force options, crisis de-escalation and mental health, medical and life-saving training, and training specific to the needs of Prince George.
This enhancement would cost the city $96,000 funded from within the contracted budget for this year, but the cost for 2022 would be $365,000.
Also on the agenda for the meeting is an update on the proposed Car 60 expansion, which was brought forward by Coun. Kyle Sampson back in July 2020.
Council will hear a report prepared by Chris Bone, manager of strategic initiatives and partnerships, regarding the program, which is a mobile crisis response unit that pairs a uniformed RCMP officer with a clinical nurse specializing in mental health.
The report states that while its hours of operation will remain 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., seven days per week the program has grown in two ways.
Car 60 will be using the Community Safety Hub scheduled to open in March of 2021 as a “touchdown” site and as such, will benefit from allied services and initiatives, including a new Northern Health Coordinator, based at that location.
In addition, Northern Health and the RCMP will be piloting an additional partnership initiative that embeds an RCMP member with NH’s community based mental health and substance use teams.
Council will also hear two delegations from Inspiring Women Among Us, who will speak about a joint UNBC and City of Prince George project called "Claiming Spaces", and Community Futures Fraser Fort George, who will speak about upcoming plans for 2021.
You can view the full agenda online and livestream the meeting through the city’s website at 6 p.m.
