Bruins Top Bombers
⇢ B1
Fire Damages T&T Repair
⇢ A10
December 11, 2013
New Watershed Manual Completed
WEDNESDAY
Estevan business T&T Repair on Kensington Avenue suffered major damages after an early morning fire Tuesday. The Estevan Fire Rescue Service responded to the blaze and used their T-Rex aerial truck to suppress the fire, which took a number of hours to extinguish. (Photo by Chad Saxon)
www.estevanmercury.ca Issue 32
⇢ B18-19
City presents lean budget Local Teen Honoured
⇢ A3
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The City of Estevan promised that the 2014 budget would be a lean one and they have delivered on that pledge. The members of city council spent Wednesday morning deliberating the budget, which currently calls for a one-mill property tax increase. Council had booked the entire day to go through the budget but were able to soar through it in less than four hours. That expedience was due in no small part, to council’s directive that capital spending would be kept to an absolute minimum in 2014. Mayor Roy Ludwig said he was pleased with how the budget session went and that council remains unified in their goal of reducing the City’s debt, which is currently just over $37 million. “Moving forward we all know what we have to do and that is cutting back on a lot of capital,” Ludwig said. “We are looking at turning the corner, living within our means and starting to pay down our debt. This is a very serious year for us, and I know council is taking it very seriously.” Ludwig credited the work of treasurer and acting city manager Jeff Ward, as well as the managers of the various departments, for their work on the budget. The mayor added that under Ward, the budget, and all City financial information moving forward, was very transparent and included some much-needed changes. One significant change of note came in how the City accounts for land sales in the budget. Ludwig said in the past the City had been counting on sales in the budget that they probably shouldn’t have been counting on and when the sales didn’t happen they were left with a budget shortfall. For example, this year the City has six lots worth over $3 million available Limited ⇢ A2
Matching Toques
Emma Morhart compared her Christmas attire with Santa’s on Saturday morning as she visited with him at the Estevan Shoppers Mall during the Lunch with Santa event with hot dogs and fries from the Old Homestead Family Restaurant.
. T IF G E R ’T N O W U O Y T IF G TH E GREAT OFFERS O N VIRTUALLY ALL OF OUR MOST POPULAR MODELS
Senchuk Ford Sales Ltd.
118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 306-634-3696