Politicians point fingers over who should cover $2.4M CBRM budget shortfall

For residents living in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, tax hikes, increased service fees and the elimination of the annual heavy garbage pickup are all possibilities this year.

“So we started at $7.8 million in the shortfall. We cut several items from the budget,” said Marie Walsh, chief administrative officer of Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM).

The municipality’s operating shortfall sits at about $2.4 million. Officials asked for financial aid from the province without luck.

“There is no help coming,” said Walsh. “We did get $3 million from the province on the last day of March,” said Walsh.

But Walsh says that money can't be used to cover operating costs, because it comes with financial requirements on what it can be spent on.

She says Premier Tim Houston made a promise during his election campaign to double equalization payments for municipalities, though that hasn't happened this year.

“We're not getting our fair share from the province,” said Eldon MacDonald, a CBRM councillor. “When you talk about capacity grants and equalization transfers, yes I believe we're not getting our fair share from that.”

In an email statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the province recently gave money to municipalities through a new program called the “Sustainable Services Growth Fund” (SSGF).

“This one-time funding provided eligible municipalities with money to support capital infrastructure projects aimed at growing communities with things like accessibility upgrades, active transportation, and housing,” the statement said.

“Cape Breton Regional Municipality received $3 million, which is the maximum amount under the fund. Discussions with the municipality about how they may use this additional funding are ongoing.”

Now, MacDonald wants Premier Houston to meet with the municipality in person.

“It needs to be the premier sitting at the table with us,” said MacDonald.

“He had a plan for Nova Scotia. He should come down and implement that plan and I welcome that.”

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