Stephen Vance, Staff
Three municipal budget public input sessions were held last week in Annan, Bognor, and at the Riverside Community centre.
Compared to previous years, attendance at the three meetings was low, with just nine attending the Annan meeting, fewer than 20 in Bognor, and ten residents attending the meeting at the Riverside Community Centre.
The draft budget will be discussed by council at their November 7 meeting, and the final statutory public budget meeting will be held on December 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Meaford Council chambers, before an expected approval of the 2017 budget on December 12.
Currently the draft budget recommends a tax increase in 2017 of 1.3 percent, though some proposed budget enhancements could bring next year’s increase into the three percent range.
If the budget were approved without the proposed enhancements, the average residential property would pay an additional $25.65 in property taxes next year. If proposed enhancements to the budget are approved by council, a three percent rate increase would add roughly $60 to the annual tax bill for an average single family home ($4.96 per month).
In September council directed staff to prepare a draft budget with dedicated rate increases of one percent for roads capital funding, one percent for bridge infrastructure funding, 0.5 percent for municipal facility infrastructure needs, as well as a 0.5 percent increase in the base operating budget.
Municipal staff exceeded those expectations with the draft budget, which includes the infrastructure funding increases requested by council as well as room for some budget enhancements, while staying under the three percent maximum increase requested by council. Staff was able to accomplish it by finding opportunities for savings within the base budget, including $116,800 in reduced capital works.
The proposed rate increases for users of Meaford’s municipal water and wastewater services in 2017 is 4.2 percent for water, and 4.61 percent for wastewater, down from recent years which have seen increases in excess of six percent.
The next steps for the 2017 municipal budget deliberations will be council deliberation on November 7, before a statutory public meeting on December 5, with an anticipated final approval of the 2017 budget on December 12.
All budget documents are available on the municipal website (meaford.ca).
