Nenshi proposes economic resiliency fund with $30 million in budget savings
原始发布日期： 2015-12-13 发布者：虫子字变大 字变小
 Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks at the McDougall Centre in Calgary on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. Gavin Young / Calgary Herald Mayor Naheed Nenshi wants council to establish an economic resiliency fund using $30 million in budget savings. The money would be used to halt upcoming transit fare and recreation pass hikes, help struggling non-profits and kick-start affordable housing efforts. Nenshi will make his pitch at Monday’s council meeting as an urgent item of business, asking the money be diverted to the fund rather than see it flow into city hall’s fiscal stability reserve. The $30 million would be split into three parts, Nenshi said Thursday: • $5 million would be used as an emergency fund for non-profit organizations and city departments • $10.6 million would go toward freezing transit fares and rec passes at 2015 levels; and • $14.4 million would be allocated for affordable housing initiatives Transit fares and recreation admission fees are scheduled to increase Jan. 1, with monthly adult and youth transit passes to increase $4 and $5, respectively, and 15 cents for single rides. General admission to leisure centres is slated to increase 55 cents from $11.95 to $12.50, while annual pool passes would jump from $20.34 to $24.15. However, the January adult transit passes have already been printed, meaning any freeze would not go into effect until February at the earliest, Nenshi said. “It would cost way too much money to reprint them, and you can’t sell them for a different price than what they’re printed for,” he said. “We’ll sell those ones and then in February we’ll bring that price down. But all of the rest of the fares … would not go up.” Previously planned increases for transit fares and recreation passes will still happen in 2017, pending council’s approval of that year’s budget. Non-profit organizations grappling with increased demand and/or dwindling donations and lost sponsorships would be eligible for a portion of the $5 million from the resiliency fund. A recent survey by the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations found 47 per cent of social agencies reported a decrease in total revenue, with 53 per cent seeing a drop in corporate donations. Just nine per cent of the organizations surveyed in October expect their financial situation to improve in the next 12 months. The remaining $15 million of Nenshi’s proposed resiliency fund would be allocated exclusively to affordable housing projects, such as seed capital to match funds from other orders of government, to bridge any gaps to start construction, or operational assistance for people in or in need of housing. “I am going to leave it in the hands of the affordable housing community to figure out if they can leverage it,” said Nenshi. He noted the emergency fund for non-profits and affordable housing would be administered within the city’s housing and neighbourhood business units in conjunction with community partners. thowell@calgaryherald.com |