A memo to councillors revealed just how little the councillor’s art cut would have saved. While the city has $7.8 million on the books for 2015, about $6.8 million of that is tied up in contractual commitments, which Demong had said he wouldn’t want to try undoing.
This means a 2015 freeze would have only saved $1 million, according to a city staff memo. That doesn’t include the unused portions of past years’ public art budget for the west LRT or Airport Trail tunnel, money the Demong motion had also targeted.