Frontenac County draft budget calls for a 2% increase

Jeff Green | Jan 21, 2010

As Frontenac County Council goes through a line-by-line consideration of their 2010 budget next Monday, January 25, they will be facing a draft document that includes only a minimal 1.94% ($164,000) increase in the amount of money that is being requisitioned from its four member municipalities.

But there still may be things to discuss. Included in the budget is a decrease in costs for social services of over $720,000 because of an uploading of Ontario Disability Support Program costs by the province, and at least one of the member municipalities would like to see that money transferred, on the basis of assessment, to the member municipalities.

At their council meeting last week, North Frontenac Council passed a motion to that effect, to be forwarded to the county.

Although it will benefit from the uploading, Frontenac County is no longer the beneficiary of another provincial granting program, the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, and in 2009 money was taken from county reserve funds to cover the shortfall. The draft 2010 budget calls for an increase in allocations to reserve funds of over $400,000, partly because they were drained in 2009.

As well, there is an increase of $137,000 in the Economic Development budget and almost $200,000 to the Planning and Development budget.

In addition to their January 25 budget meeting, county council is scheduled to meet on February 1. It is anticipated the budget will be formally approved at the regular February meeting of council on the 17th.