SF budget – 2% tax increase and lots of trash talking

Wilma Kenny | Apr 01, 2010

The South Frontenac Committee of the Whole convened at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, to complete their work on the 2010 budget.

When they went into the meeting the budget called for an increase of just under 2% in the amount to be levied against taxpayers, and that’s where they ended, but it was anything but a smooth ride to that conclusion.

The discussion became acrimonious over the issue of funding the collection and disposal of household waste.

All did agree that this area was difficult, for in this first year as a fully amalgamated

service in South Frontenac, no one can be certain of the actual costs of extending waste pickup (garbage and recycling) to almost all township residents.

To make matters worse, councillors reopened issues that had earlier seemed resolved.

Disagreements included: the definition of net waste management expenses, the number of bag tags to distribute, the cost of additional tags, whether to charge all

residences equally for pickup, how much to charge for pickup, etc..

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth pointed out that while MPAC showed 9,698 assessed residences in the township, once apartments are factored in, there are more than 10,000 garbage producing households.

The meeting descended into a bit of a name calling session when Mayor Davison described a voting block made up of the Councillors from Storrington and Portland Districts as “the blind leading the blind.”

Councillor Bill Robinson took exception to this characterisation, but Davison would not back down.

“I stand by my comments,” he said.

Councillor John Fillion then asked that the Sustainability Committee, which has been working on waste management issues, be disbanded. Councillor Bill Robinson then suggested the meeting be adjourned.

Finally the Mayor called a halt to the debate.

Councillors Hahn, McPhail and Vandewal asked if a compromise was possible.

Eventually, Council arrived at one that passed a straw vote: fifty bag tags a year will be issued, and all tax bills will carry a $100 waste fee.

All other costs will be covered by sale of additional bag tags and income from recycling, with any overage to be drawn from township reserve funds, which have already been depleted by $100,000 to cover waste management costs while keeping the tax raise to a minimum.

The roads budget is also high this year, because of sizeable upper-tier government grants the township has received that must be matched by municipally raised dollars.

Councillor Hahn said that by drawing down road reserves and not raising taxes in that area, next year’s council will be faced with a seriously under funded roads department.

Councillor Fillion called the roads budget “too aggressive, and a waste of money.” Both he and Councillor Larry York said they didn’t agree with having a 5-year plan for roads.

Mayor Davison retorted, “We should be proud of the state of our roads: all our ratepayers use the roads.” The other councillors agreed, and several noted that the five-year plan is not rigid, but is intended to be reviewed and updated each year.

The proposed budget will be presented to a required public meeting April 20th, following which, Council will likely vote to accept it (unless there are strong objections from the public.)

None of the evening’s events altered the bottom line of a 1.98% increase over last year in the amount to be raised by taxation. This figure has been achieved by a combination of budget cuts and drawing down reserves.

Ratepayers will see varying changes to their tax bills as the result of this budget, as their own property assessments will also factor into how much they will have to pay.