Council is aiming to keep the increase to the average bill at 1.9 per cent, and asked every municipal department to bring its most cut-up budget to council chambers. On Friday, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Chief Ken Stuebing brought his department’s budget to council’s budget committee, offering up a cut of an extra $1 million to his already slashed budget. In his slide presentation to councillors, Stuebing highlighted that fire service in Halifax was much cheaper than the Canadian average. The president of the union representing 500 career firefighters in Halifax said staffing couldn’t be further cut. “If council lands here, the library board will have some difficult decisions to make,” Kachan told council.

Source: thestar February 09, 2019 15:00 UTC