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PM40050478 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Business Owner? Pay Less Tax... Ask Us How 519-886-2360 ext 6241 • Suite 201 - 80 King St S, Waterloo, ON N2J 1P5 • www.mceachniematthewsgroup.ca Trademarks, including IG Private Wealth Management are owned by IGM Financial Inc. and licensed to its subsidiary corporations Investors Group Financial Services Inc. ---DEAL OF THE WEEK--- 6MM THICK • 100% WATERPROOF! CLICK VINYL PLANKS 99¢/SQ FTREG 3.99 FROM CRIME TRAFFIC WEATHERWEATHERWEATHER R E A D T H E N E W S A S IT H A P P E N S A T W A T E R LO O C H R O N IC LE .C A PLUNGE WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE OFFICERS KYLE LAMBERT (RIGHT) AND BRIAN KIENITZ BOTH CANNONBALL INTO THE ICY WATER AT WLU STADIUM ON SATURDAY. SEE STORY ON PAGE 4. James Jackson, Waterloo Region Record In the end, Waterloo council concluded the city's 2020 budget number is clear-sighted. Driven chiefly by wage in- creases and new hires, a 3.4 per cent increase - same as staff pro- posed last fall - will push the city's annual operating levy over $79 million. Two new supervisors for parks operations and building maintenance, an IMTS network analyst, a traffic technician, a procurement specialist and a di- rector of strategic initiatives in the office of the chief adminis- trative officer account for about one per cent of the increase, or 'WE NEED PEOPLE TO DO THE WORK' See CITY, page 4 STAFF, WAGE INCREASES DRIVE 3.4% TAX INCREASE BILL JACKSON bjackson@kitchenerpost.cabjackson@kitchenerpost.cab