South Frontenac Reviews Budget For Approval Next Week

Feb 02, 2022

2.8% levy increase, offset by 1.06% in growth

On February 8th, South Frontenac Council is set to approve the 2022 township budget, the last one during this term of council, and the third and final one to be steered by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Neil Carbone, who is leaving the township in late February.

The budget includes an increase in the levy to ratepayers of $577,306, a 2.8% increase from the previous year, to over $21 million. The increase is offset by an increase of 1.06%, $205,316 in tax revenue, that is attributed to new construction from previous years that has made its way on the tax rolls via assessments by MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation).

Before going through the operating budget at a morning meeting on Thursday, January 27, Council revisited a few items from the Capital budget, which had been discussed by them a week earlier. (see page 2 of Vol. 22, #4)

Some of the projects which sparked the most comment at that meeting, have been deferred, such as some sidewalk work, and both the volleyball court in Inverary, and the dog park which was earmarked for Gerald Ball Park in Sunbury.

The dog park idea is not going away, but will likely be deferred pending further public comment.

Councillor Randy Ruttan, who said at the previous meeting that dog parks seem to “make no sense in a rural area” took the opportunity to say “I think I was wrong about dog parks … I was inundated with calls after the last meeting and when that happens you know there is a real demand for dog parks, so I support them now.”

“This year is a ‘close up existing project year’ as opposed to a year to “initiate a lot of new projects,” said Carbone.

He referred to changes in staffing that have taken place over the previous 12 months, including major changes in public works.

“Some of the projects that were done entirely in-house in the past, will change now that we have new asset management in place. And you will see changes in how those projects are rolled out,” he told Council.

Among the most discussed elements of the budget were the proposal to hire a new building inspector, and a new planner.

The building inspector position, which will be financed from permit fees and not taxation, was universally supported, but Mayor Vandewal questioned the need for the new planning position.

“We keep saying we are creating a department where developers can come and receive a clear road map to follow, but I hear from developers that it isn’t like that, no matter how big our department is,” he said.

Nonetheless, the position remained in the budget.

The virtual meeting stretched into the afternoon, after a lunch break, as Council heard from the various township departments about their operating budget proposals. After each presentation, the department heads, and senior staff, took questions from Council. After that, Director of Corporate Services and newly appointed interim CAO Louise Fragnito, took Council through a line-by-line exercise, explaining any major changes as she went along.

The meeting ended soon after that.

The budget satisfied a target that had been set for staff by Council, which is a 2% increase.

Although the levy is up by 2.8%, Council looks at another number, the impact on the average valued house in the township. The average house in South Frontenac was assessed at $273,061 at the end of 2021, up about $2,000 from the year before. The township taxes would go up by $32.79 on the hypothetical average valued property, which works out to a 2% increase.

Township taxes will be combined with education and county taxes.

The Frontenac County tax levy is up by 4% this year, and the education levy has been held at the same level for a number of years.