Chair Of City's Finance Committee Concerned Over Wages And Benefits

Now that it appears the notion of switching over to the RCMP for policing in Saint John appears to be dead in the water, Common Councillor Donna Reardon wants to hear from the Police Commission on how much City Police cost and what services that pays for. 

Councillor David Merrithew chairs the city's Finance Committee. He tells CHSJ News the trend is unsustainable when you have stagnant population growth in the city.

Merrithew also points out the cost of living from 2004 to 2014 has gone up by 18 per cent but wages for city firefighters in that same time period have gone up by 50 per cent.
 
As an example, Merrithew says a proposal is coming up soon to spend 1.3 or 1.4 million dollars on paving and pothole repair but that will be put in the capital budget which is essentially means putting the cost on the city's credit card.