County facing a proposed 3.77% tax increase for 2024

Jeff Green | Oct 25, 2023

As Frontenac County Council looks a the 2024 budget this week, the initial news is positive. The interest rate hikes in recent months have resulted in an increase in interest payments on county investments of $440,000, which translates to 3.53% increase on the revenue side of the budget

And, thanks to upticks in provincial funding, increases in the operating budgets of both the Fairmount Home long term care facility and Frontenac Paramedic Services are being offset for 2024, lessening the burden on Frontenac County ratepayers.

Even with a portion of that interest rate boon being put aside as a hedge against decreased interest revenues going forward, it left the status quo budget at about 0.5% less than the 2023 budget.

However, because of some commitments made in previous years that are being phased in, and a need to replenish reserve funds that have dropped well below the target, what county staff call the status quo budget sits at about a 2.1% increase.

On top of that, there are a number of project proposals for council to consider. The largest of those is a $116,000 cost to hire a new person in the Economic Development Department, which would be a 0.94% in the budget if approved.

Other project proposals impacting the budget include a $75,000 Frontenac Paramedics study, $22,000 for physician recruitment, and $12,500 for improved dust suppression on the K&P trail.

The total impact of the project proposals, if they are all approved, would increase the budget by 1.67%, bringing the total budget increase to $3.77%.

That cost, which is shared by the Frontenac Townships based on their share of the total assessed value of all properties in the county. Those costs are mitigated for existing ratepayers by about 1%, from new construction coming onto the tax tolls each year.

On October 24 and 25, department heads from the various county service areas will be presenting their business plans to council, and a final decision on the fate of the 2024 budget could come as early as October 25.

The county budget is folded into township budgets to determine the tax bill sent out by each township. South Frontenac will be finalising their budget later in November, North Frontenac sometime in late January or early February, and Central Frontenac in March.