The City of Moose Jaw's Budget Committee held their second of four presentation-and-deliberation meetings Wednesday night with regard to their 2019 budget.

Of the five third-party group presentations, the Moose Jaw Police Service's request of just over $9.8 million for 2019 - a 3.5 percent increase - included but was not limited to funding for the continued development of the Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan program, a child abuse intervention program, the Police and Crisis Team (PACT), and additional funding to hire more officers.

Mayor Fraser Tolmie said, "A lot of the initiatives that were brought forward are new initiatives. The hiring of officers was done by the province. The province has supplemented the Moose Jaw Police Service with four officers."

Moose Jaw Police Chief Rick Bourassa said that violent crime in the city is increasing, mainly due to an increase in both meth-amphetamine use and firearms use and possession.

Along with the police service group presentation, Murals of Moose Jaw requested $9,000, the Cultural Centre requested $171,154, the Moose Jaw Public Library said there "was not a lot of fluctuation" in their budget and that it was "status quo", while the Airport Authority said not much had changed with their budget over the last few years. They will receive provincial, federal, and city funding to expand the length of their runway. The airport authority also receives revenues from their land and hangar leases.

The completion of the departmental presentations was also on the agenda, with the City's Engineering Services laying out their 2019 budget. Initiatives included transportation and infrastructure, a SaskPolytechnic transit run to Regina, a transportation master plan, the need for more construction crews and hydro-vac units, paving gravel roads, including a proposed $1.5 million project for Caribou Street - a "priority" issue - with a budget based on the use of LIPs, more automated parking meters for city parking lots, and landfill issues and concerns such as leachate remediation, a landfill scale, wind fences to contain litter, and a gas evaluation analysis.

Mayor Tolmie said, "There's provincial legislation that oversees landfills. We have to come in alignment with that. There's an understanding on Council that this has to be dealt with. We'll have to find funds. The administration has looked at some of the reserves that we have to deal with these issues."

Tolmie said the landfill issue has been a concern for several years, and that it has only 5 years of life left in it.

It was also recommended the hospital levy be reduced from $96 per household to $15 per year per taxable property. The recommendation was approved. The levy will not go beyond 2019.

The final item on the agenda was a recommendation from the City's Department of Financial Services. Director Brian Acker's recommendation of Capital Project WW-5 Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant (BPWTP) upgrades and WW-9 feeder lines be designated as the City of Moose Jaw's 2019 Municipal Gas Tax funded programs was approved. The Gas Tax Fund (GTF) was launched in 2005 by the federal government in an effort to provide predictable and sustainable funding for municipal infrastructure. The current program runs through 2019.

The next budget meeting will be held Wednesday, December 12, 2018.

You can find more information on the City's budget here.