Central Frontenac Council targets a 5% tax increase

Jeff Green | Feb 02, 2014

Budget meeting and othere items from Council

Central Frontenac Council made short work of their line-by-line consideration of the 2014 township budget on Monday afternoon.

They had met twice the previous week to hear management-level staff go over their respective budgets, but did not make any changes to the overall document.

When they met on Monday afternoon, Treasurer Michael McGovern brought some good news. A misplaced decimal place had the figure for interest earned from late tax payments at $7,200 instead of $72,000 in the initial draft budget.

Simply by correcting that error, the increase in the levy to ratepayers dropped from 8.15% to 7.26%.

Over the course of the three-hour meeting, council found some more savings, and the budget was down to a 6.36% increase, just under $400,000.

Inflation accounts for just under 1% of that increase, and according to Treasurer McGovern, the township experienced assessment growth due to new construction of about the same amount.

Faced with the increase, Councilor Frances Smith said, “I still think we are asking too much from our ratepayers. I'd like to see us bring it down to 2 or 3%."

“I partially agree with Councilor Smith,” said Councilor John Purdon. “When I look at the budgets we have passed since 2006, when I first came to Council, we have had an average increase of 7.2% per year. Over that time we have raised taxes by 50%. I think we can accomplish our goals this year with a 5% increase.”

Mayor Janet Gutowski asked Michael McGovern how much the budget needs to be cut to bring the increase down to 5% and he said $90,000.

“How about this?” said Gutowski. “Let's ask staff to find $90,000 in cuts, and then we'll look at what they come up with and we can make our decisions then.”

There was general agreement among Council and the directive was issued. There are no more special budget meetings scheduled, and Council will likely receive a budget that includes an increase of just under $300,000 in the levy at their regular meeting on February 11.

(Council met again on Tuesday (January 28) for a regular meeting. In order to get a head start on construction projects, they pre-approved a number of major items in the 2014 budget, including $1 million in road and bridge projects and $210,000 for the purchase of a tandem truck)

Do we need a fleet this big?

Even though he will not be retiring until later this summer, it was almost as if Central Frontenac Public Works Manager Mike Richardson was making comments as he was walking out the door, when he answered a question about the size of the fleet of loaders, graders, and other trucks that the township has at its disposal.

The question was posed during budget talks by Councilor Jeff Matson, and it cut to the heart of the direction Richardson has taken the public works department during his five-year tenure as public works manager.

“I have been maintaining a fleet, and I have been maintaining, not growing the fleet. If you want to keep the service level you have now you have to maintain the fleet and staffing levels that you have. If you want to reduce the service level, you can make cuts, but I wouldn't recommend that you go that route,” Richardson said.

Richardson was talking to Council on Monday afternoon, a day that had started with a surprise load of snow on township roads.

“The time it took for a clean-up today, basically a day's work for the crews and a bit more - that shows you pretty well where you are. The service level is perhaps a little higher than I have seen in other townships but this is a very difficult township. I look at some of the more remote roads in Kennebec and it becomes very difficult to say we should take two more hours to get their roads cleared,” he said. “People can't wait for that much longer for their roads to be cleared.”

Under Richardson, the township has embarked on a 10-year plan to replace a number of older vehicles with new ones, and the benefits are to come with lower maintenance costs and a budgetary benefit in future years. Rather than replacing vehicles on an ad-hoc basis as they break down, Richardson has implemented a long-term plan in which money is put aside each year for the eventual replacement of equipment.

“I am pleased with this,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski, “I support keeping our equipment up top snuff. And we are starting to see savings in repairs, $20,000 this year and more in the future, plus we are seeing less down time for staff.”

Good news and bad news

Chief Administrative Officer Larry Donaldson brought some good news to Central Frontenac Council at their meeting on Tuesday (January 27). The township's insurance company will pay the full replacement value for a truck that slid into a ditch and flipped over during an ice storm in January.

He also had some bad news.

“I just found out this afternoon that another truck was in an accident today. I don’t know the details because it just happened today,” he said.

The truck involved in Tuesday’s accident was built in the 1990s.

Questioning Hillier’s numbers

Councilor John Purdon had a point to make about a letter to Council from MPP Randy Hillier.

The letter came about in response to Council’s attempt to sway Hillier towards supporting Bill 91 Waste Reduction Act which, if passed, will transfer the burden of paying for recycling towards the manufacturers who produce the material that ends up in the recycling stream. Municipalities have been supportive of the bill because it would alleviate the costs they currently pay to cover recycling.

In his response Hiller said he felt “it is important to share some of my reservations I have regarding Bill 91.”

Hillier noted that Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said “Bill 91 is poorly thought out and a huge risk to their competitiveness and survival”

Sony Canada also opposes the bill, Hillier wrote.

He also said that the Ontario government “had a goal of 60% diversion by 2008, but has never surpassed 23%”

It is on this point that John Purdon took issue.

“Waste Diversion Ontario calculated a diversion rate of 32% in 2007 and 47.2% currently,” Purdon said. “Those are the rates for consumers of the end products. Mr. Hillier is using numbers that include the industrial sector, the very group that is lobbying the government to not bring in the Waste Reduction Act.”