The township’s CAO says moving to a three-year operating budget could help the municipality with long-term planning.
CAO Patty Sinnamon provided council with a work plan outlining progress on and plans for various initiatives and projects at the June 11 meeting.
She noted that among the recommendations from a CAO forum she recently attended was the idea municipalities could develop and work from three-year operating budgets, rather than the standard one-year spending plans adopted by most municipalities.
While it’s not widely used, Sinnamon noted three-year operating budgets are allowed under the Municipal Act.
“That was one of the things that they talked about, that there is this tool – very few municipalities are doing it – but that’s something that can be considered when we look at long-range planning,” she said.
While only a couple of municipalities in Ontario are thought to be using the approach, Sinnamon told the Community News, “It’s something to think about. It makes sense.”
Sinnamon added longer-term budgeting would fit in well with provincial requirements that all municipalities have asset management plans in place by the end of this year.
“It’s just giving us some options, especially because we have to have these asset management plans done by the end of this year – does it makes sense to look at our operating budgets longer term as well?”
Sinnamon notes the province has committed to providing municipalities with more stability in the amount they will receive from gas tax revenue and the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund in future years, which could help them budget further down the road.
“We know that the federal government has said ‘yes, we’re going to commit to a longer term.’ What we don’t know is what that formula is going to be based on,” she noted.
