Highlights from last week’s meetings…
There’s a lot to review from Council last week as we had a regular meeting of Council (Nov. 14), met as Economic & Finance Standing Policy Committee (Nov. 14 – 16), and met as Safety & Social Standing Policy Committee (Nov. 16).
Video and agenda packages for all meetings are available at: https://agendas.lethbridge.ca/AgendaOnline
If you have any questions at all, or would like to talk further about the work Council is doing, please contact me via this website, or email me at:
jenn.schmidt-rempel@lethbridge.ca
City Council, Nov. 14, 2023:
(https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/council-highlights-november-14-2023/)
- Taxi amendments – Business Licence Bylaw 5658
- Council voted to amend Licence bylaw 5658 that removes the requirement for regulated fares in the city as well as removing the requirement for a taxi to have a top light.
- Drivers will still be required to be licensed, have criminal record checks, and companies will still be required to submit vehicles for inspection.
I supported this change in that it allows taxi companies to remain competitive with ride share services.
Economic & Finance Standing Policy Committee, Nov. 14 – 16, 2023:
(https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/recap-of-economic-and-finance-spc-meeting-november-14-16/)
We received a general economic update highlighting and overviewing current economic conditions and the impact on the City’s financial position and financial resources. Topics covered were:
- Overall economic conditions
- Taxation pressures
- Utility pressure
- Operating & Capital pressures
- Impact on reserves
We also received presentations on:
- 2023 September Operating Forecast
- A summary report of the 2023 – 2026 Operating Budge Initiatives
- A summary report of the 2022 – 2031 Capital Improvement Program
The City faces financial pressures including inflation and rising interest rates. The presentations and updates over the 3 days gave Council an opportunity to consider options and tools that will assist with future financial decision to continue to meet the needs and expectations of our growing city.
- Increased of Parking Fines – Bylaw 6428 (https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/council-hears-new-ideas-on-downtown-parking-changes-following-partnership-with-business-community/)
- The first reading of this Bylaw will be at Council’s Nov. 28 meetingThe work on this bylaw was completed by the Heart of Our City Committee, Downtown BRZ, and City of LethbridgeThe proposed recommendations will be carried out as a 2-year pilot project, with an update to Council at this time next year
- Lethbridge Housing Authority Tax Request
- Economic & Finance SPC recommended to Council that one-time funding of $180,000 be provided to Lethbridge & Region Community Housing Corporation and Lethbridge Housing Authority for operating funding for affordable housing properties
- Further, administration was directed to develop a non-profit Affordable Housing Grant Program with funding options
Working towards developing a non-profit affordable housing tax grant program for Lethbridge is something I’ve wanted to see us work on for over a year now, and I support learning more about the possibilities of doing this. We know we need more affordable housing, and housing across the housing continuum in our city, and this would also demonstrate to our provincial and federal partners we are working towards building this capacity in our city. We learned during the presentation that eligibility requirements can be developed to suit the specific needs of our community, and we could develop a process that will in the long-term limit administrative costs and risk for affordable housing providers. I‘m also still seeing too many gaps in the information we have – I’d like us to get a handle on who all the bodies are that would be coming forward for funding and what models are out there we could explore.
- Community Group Budget Process Review for Grants and Fee for Service
- Economic & Financial SPC proposed increased funding of $37,500 per year per organization (2024 – 2026) for:
- Interfaith Food Bank
- Lethbridge Food Bank
- Lethbridge Soup Kitchen
- Habitat for Humanity
- Economic & Financial SPC proposed increased funding of $37,500 per year per organization (2024 – 2026) for:
I supported this. These are amounts that we can responsibly support at this time, and we will further commit to ensuring that community groups are better informed of the process at the start of the next budget process.
Safety & Social Standing Policy Committee:
- Updated Whoop-Up Drive Emergency Protocols (https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/new-emergency-protocols-for-whoop-up-drive-now-in-place/https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/new-emergency-protocols-for-whoop-up-drive-now-in-place/)
- These came forward as a result of the traffic incident in June of this year
- Departments are planning for a tabletop exercise, as well as a planning for a Sunday morning exercise on Whoop Up Drive (date TBA)
This week at City Council:
Agenda packages and video are available at: https://agendas.lethbridge.ca/AgendaOnline
- Nov. 23: Governance Standing Policy Committee