With deliberations for the city's 2009 budget soon to get underway, the Timmins Chamber of Commerce recently presented its own recommendations, including infrastructure planning and tax burden reduction.
In consultation with its 750 business members, chamber officials identified a series of proposed items, such the need to deal with an infrastructure funding shortfall of as much as $100 million. Similarly, the need for a prioritized infrastructure plan was also indicated.
The chamber also suggested the city reduce services to "core" services, with the remainder being contracted to the private sector. Along with the implementation of efficiencies identified in a 2005 local study, this would lower operational costs and thus taxation, officials argued.
Long-term sustainability was also suggested as something that needed to be examined in order to better weather the province's economic shifts.
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