Not many treats in store for Owen Sound Councillors as they hunker down for the start of two days of service analysis deliberations on this Halloween.
In fact Councillor Deb Haswell expects this year exercise will be quite scary as council will have to wrestle with the demons of the economic downtown and reduced funding from the Provincial Government.
She says all of the services that the city provides will be up for review and this is where council will decide what services could be expanded, which ones reduced or which ones eliminated all together.
Haswell says every small city in Ontario is facing similar problems as Owen Sound with the need to fix crumbling infrastructure but only a limited amount of tax dollars to do it.
She says during service analysis council has to do a balancing act between the upkeep of services needed for public safety and other services that enhance the quality of life in the city.
Haswell says in the light of the Provincial Finance Ministers announcement of reduced funding because of the economic downturn, that will probably result in a tax increase for Owen Sound ratepayers.
She says she does not honestly know how Council can avoid increasing taxes, but hopes that they will try to keep it to an absolute minimum.
Haswell says the goal of service analysis is to give staff some direction in the preparation of their budgets before bring them back to council for approval.
The service analysis runs today and tomorrow in the basement of the Owen Sound Library.
