Stephen Vance, Staff
Meaford’s council is a little closer to finalizing the 2017 municipal budget after a special meeting of council was held on November 7, in order to allow members of council to discuss and debate a list of proposed enhancements to the budget.
The intention of meeting was for staff to receive guidance from council before putting together a final budget that will be brought to the public for the mandatory public meeting that will be held on December 5.
Mayor Barb Clumpus reminded council and the public that no final decisions were being made by council at the November 7 meeting. Council will review the final draft of the budget on November 21, and final approval of the 2017 budget will take place on December 12.
Currently the draft budget recommends a tax increase in 2017 of roughly 1.3 percent, however the proposed budget enhancements discussed at the November 7 meeting could bring next year’s increase into the three percent range.
The proposed enhancements discussed by council, and approved for inclusion in the final budget document at the November 7 meeting included $129,000 for additional transportation services staff, $5,000 for increased direct mailing of information to Meaford ratepayers, $6,500 for municipal flags and pins reflecting Meaford’s recently created coat of arms and flag, $14,125 for a records management initiative, $35,000 to embark on a regional master fire plan, $11,600 for enhanced municipal beautification and horticulture, $35,000 for a branding initiative which will be funded through the sale of municipal property as opposed to an increase in the budget, as well as a fifty cent increase (from $2.50 to $3.00) to the cost of garbage bag tags.
Of the proposed enhancements before council, the request for additional full-time transportation services staff, and the proposed increase for garbage bag tags were the most hotly debated by council.
Staff recommended to council that three seasonal positions in the Transportation Services department be converted to full-time year-round positions. Meaford Treasurer Darcy Chapman told council that the department is short-staffed in the summer months which creates a backlog of projects like ditch-work and roads maintenance. Currently the department operates with the equivalent of 16.5 full-time employees between year-round and seasonal staff, and if the budget enhancement is ultimately approved, that would climb to 18.5.
The proposed increase of fifty cents to the cost of a garbage bag tag would generate an additional $35,000, and would move the municipality closer to full cost-recovery. The actual cost for the service is closer to $4.50 per tag according to discussion around the council table.
Deputy Mayor Harley Greenfield expressed worry that the increase would hurt low wage earners and those on fixed incomes, and he also noted that young families, particularly those with infants in diapers generate additional waste requiring additional bag tags that they can’t necessarily afford, however his fellow members of council approved the inclusion of the budget enhancement in the final budget document.
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, the increase in 2017 would be closer to three percent which 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 a final draft review by council on November 21, 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).
