Police and emergency services were once considered untouchables during budget deliberations.

No longer, said Wilkinson.

“It was sacrosanct ’til we saw this budget,” she said.

City council is looking to find $45 million in cuts to keep next year’s property tax increase at 4.9 per cent, with staff proposing huge cuts to programs and services as well as large user fee increases.

Councillors are starting to think outside of the box in order to reduce the severity of the cuts, such as a staff proposal to cut all funding for outdoor rink maintenance.

Wilkinson said she is working with a group of councillors, including Gord Hunter, Jan Harder, Eli El-Chantiry and Rainer Bloess, to prepare a list of alternatives program cuts, when council debates the budget next week.

The city’s draft budget calls for spending $2.5 million to hire 65 more paramedics next year; the Ottawa police were looking for $2.4 million to hire 30 officers and 15 civilian staff.

“Do we need 65 paramedics (now)?” asked Wilkinson, during a Kanata north ward council at the Mlacak Centre on Monday, Nov. 24. “Do we need 35 cops or 25?”

That same night at city hall, Ottawa police lowered their budget request by nearly $2.7 million, after receiving increased provincial support and agreeing to make further budget cuts.

The Ontario government has agreed to give $700,000 to the city to hire 10 new officers.

Police also adjusted their budget numbers to account for the recent drop in fuel prices.

Wilkinson’s budget group is also looking at reducing the city’s salaries and benefits budget by $10 million and to reduce bus service in the downtown core.

She said the city could reduce the number of bus drivers it needs to hire by increasing the length between bus trips in downtown Ottawa.

“Rather than cutting some of the bus routes, let’s make people go on the 20-minute schedule instead of 15.”

Wilkinson said OC Transpo workers may soon vote to go on strike.

“They could go on strike as early as Christmas time,” she said.

The Amalgated Transit Union Local 279 were scheduled to hold a strike vote on Tuesday, Nov, 25.

The union is looking for an annual four per cent increase over the next three years, said Wilkinson.

“They’re not getting it,” she said. “We’re offering something that’s fair under today’s circumstances.”

PACE CARS

Morgan’s Grant may soon introduce the pace car program to slow traffic around Jack Donohue Public School, said Wilkinson.

She said the community is waiting to see the results of the program, which recruits parents to drive under the speed limit on streets surrounding schools, which started up this fall on Stonehaven Drive in Bridlewood.

“It does tend to reduce accidents,” she said.

ALL SAINTS BUS LOOP

All Saints Catholic High School wants to build a loop for buses near Walden Park.

The school proposes to build the lane on the east-end of the school near a soft ball field in Kanata Lakes.

Wilkinson said the problem is that the school doesn’t have enough land to build a proper bus lane, and that the community will probably have to live with the proposed route.

Meanwhile, a developer plans to build a row of luxurious townhomes across the street from the Catholic high school.

The president of Tega Developments unveiled the project during the ward council meeting, proposing to build 22-units (selling for nearly $500,000 each).

Each three-storey unit comes with its own elevator and is fully-loaded with porcelain tiles, double sinks, Roman tubs and spacious living quarters.

Wilkinson also told community members at the ward council meeting that Urbandale Corp. must submit a new subdivision plan for its development north of All Saints, as the city must realign Goulbourn Forced Road “significantly west of where it is now.”