Stephen Vance, Staff
On Monday, December 7, Meaford council held the statutory public meeting relating to the 2016 municipal budgets at Bognor Community Hall.
Nearly 20 residents attended the meeting, the final step before council votes to approve the budgets at their December 14 meeting.
As with every municipal budget, the focus was on the operating budget and the impact it will have on ratepayers’ property tax bills. After months of draft budgets followed by public input sessions, council will approve a budget with a 1.94 percent rate increase on the municipal portion of your property tax bill.
For the average home in Meaford, the increase will amount to an additional $37.92 per year, according to municipal Treasurer Darcy Chapman. With the increase from the county (also 1.94%), Meaford ratepayers will see their annual property tax bills rise an average of $55.85 in 2016. Chapman told those who attended the meeting that there is currently no increase anticipated for the school board portion of the municipal property tax bill.
Earlier this year, Meaford Mayor Barb Clumpus challenged staff to bring forward a budget for 2016 with a maximum rate increase of two percent. After the meeting Clumpus told The Independent that she was pleased with the outcome of this year’s budget process.
“I’m very, very pleased. I’m very impressed, there’s been lots of good feedback, there have been lots of questions given to staff, there’s been lots of community engagement. Council’s been thoroughly engaged with this. We’ve gone through it line by line, and we have taken our time; this has not been a quick process by any means,” said Clumpus.
Ratepayers attending the meeting brought with them concerns that not enough was being done to maintain municipal roads, and that too much of the focus of the annual municipal budgets was directed to the urban area of the municipality.
The Treasurer noted that 93 percent of the 1.94 percent rate increase was directed entirely to road maintenance and repair. He also said that he and his fellow municipal staff members viewed the municipality as one entity, and all of their recommendations to council were based on what they saw as the best interests of the municipality as a whole.
Along with those criticisms came something that isn’t often heard, particularly during budget season – compliments for council and municipal staff. Those compliments even came from residents who had expressed frustration with various aspects of the municipal budget.
“You councillors, since your term began have done a fantastic job as far as I’m concerned,” offered one resident, who self-described as typically being on the offensive when it comes to council issues. “I haven’t got any issues with any of the directions you’ve taken. And the staff, I think they’re doing a great job.”
In addition to the modest property tax increase, users of Meaford’s water and sewer system will see their bills increase in 2016 by approximately five percent – that in spite of the department’s more than $40,000 reduction in its annual budget. The reason an increase is required, noted Chapman, is to ensure that the municipality stays on top of capital costs associated with the water and waste-water systems. A study conducted in 2011 highlighted the need for several years of increases in the five percent range in order to ensure that the water and waste-water systems were properly and adequately funded for future years.
Final approval for the 2016 municipal budgets is expected at the December 14 council meeting. All budget documents are available on the municipal website (meaford.ca)
