City applies wizard ‘sorting hat’ to budget wishlist

While formal budget deliberations won’t take place until later this year, Yellowknife councillors are already considering which wishlist projects should make it into the city’s 2026 budget.

The city received 31 submissions from the public about projects they want to see get budget dollars, loosely estimated to cost a total of more than $3.3 million. Councillors also made four submissions for potential inclusion in the 2026 budget.

During a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday, city manager Stephen Van Dine explained that municipal staff had done “the sorting hat Harry Potter kind of thing” to categorize those proposals. Instead of sorting witches and wizards into Hogwarts houses, however, city staff grouped the projects by traffic sign colour, based on whether they should be included in the budget.

“Municipal budget challenges are what they are, and unfortunately it’s not always possible to make every budget request a reality,” explained Kavi Pandoo, the city’s director of corporate services.

Among budget proposals given a green-light recommendation were enhancements to downtown services, including improved garbage removal and sidewalk clearing as well as the addition of two community standards enforcement officers to increase downtown foot patrols.

“Administration believes that these measures will go a long way in improving services and ambience of our downtown core,” Pandoo said.

Other projects that made the green list included a snow and ice study to review resources and service levels, as well as a snow blower.

Yellow, orange and red

Ideas given a yellow light, meaning city staff believe they should be considered in the budget, included a new dog park – the subject of five public submissions – and a trail-counter measure for multi-use trails.

In the flashing orange category, which city staff said means more input is needed, were dog waste bins and a lighted crosswalk across Kam Lake Road.

Kandoo highlighted a community café initiative in the orange category, which he said was “green in principle” but not yet greenlit as there are “multiple stakeholders and many moving parts before this project is realized.”

Also falling under the orange category were councillors’ submissions of creating a deputy manager position, fleet management, increasing community grant funding, and funding hydrants – an issue currently affecting a private housing project in Yellowknife’s downtown core.

The remainder of the public’s submissions were put under the red category, meaning city staff do not recommend that they be included in the 2026 budget as they do not align with work plans, among other concerns.

Those projects included a proposed artist-in-residence program – which the city said should be considered by the grant review committee – artwalks, various crosswalks and Tin Can Hill trail improvements.

Proposals to transform the former Ruth Inch Memorial Pool building into an indoor skate park or separately a library were placed in the red category as the city is planning a study in 2026 to determine the best use for the facility.

Also in the red category was what Pandoo described as an “out of the ordinary” submission suggesting that the municipality “meaningfully increase” taxes to address the city’s infrastructure deficit and need for repairs.

Councillors weigh in

Ultimately, it will be up to city councillors to decide what does and does not make it into the final budget.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councillor Tom McLennan said he was not in favour of funding a new dog park ahead of other priorities.

Instead of funding additional community standards enforcement officers, McLennan said he would like to see the city increase funding to non-governmental organizations that provide services to vulnerable people.

Garett Cochrane said he was in support of funding a dog park in Yellowknife’s Parker Park.

“Being that we have received hundreds of emails every year around this exact issue, this is something the public wants and I’m more than happy to placate the public on something just to stop the emails,” he said.

Both Cochrane and McLennan expressed support for the community café and said other levels of government need to step up to provide funding for the initiative.

Cat McGurk gave a “shoutout” to the resident who suggested increasing taxes to pay for infrastructure.

“Obviously, we try our best to be responsible with our tax increases, but it is really worth noting that city taxes, on average, equate to less than two percent of residents’ annual expenditure,” she said.

McGurk added that increasing city taxes can reduce the overall cost of living by decreasing other costs, such as for transit.

Unlike other levels of government, the city is required to pass a balanced budget every year.

Municipal staff will release a draft budget for 2026 to the public on November 3.

Councillors are set to deliberate it from December 1-4 and approve a final budget on December 8.