Some Saint Johnners may argue there have already been cutbacks in city services with the reductions in bus service and there are rumblings about possible layoffs within the fire department.
Common Councillor Chris Titus, who chairs the Transit Commission, points out increasing the number of riders will only make the bus service more expensive because each rider has to be subsidised and that is the case not only in Saint John but also in London, England and Boston.
Despite some concern, City Manager Pat Woods is confident the city's debt will not consume too much of the budget.
The 8 cities cities around the province spent an average of about 12% of their budgets on servicing their debts. The servicing of the debt in Saint John was the second lowest at 9.7% with Fredericton at 8.2 percent.
