Residents here can expect to pay about five per cent more on the local portion of their tax bill in 2013.
A draft budget presented at a public open house on March 5 projects the town will raise $4,071,753 through taxation for local municipal purposes this year, up $231,753 from the 2012 budgeted figure of $3,840,000.
Minto treasurer Gordon Duff said, once assessment changes are factored into the equation, the tax increase for town purposes works out to about 5%.
When blended with Wellington County and the education portion of the tax bill, the town is projecting local residents will see an overall increase of 2.9%. For an average residential property assessed at $193,000 in Minto, that works out to an increase of $77 in the overall tax bill. Duff said about $55 of the increase can be attributed to the town’s portion.
CAO Bill White said much of the increase in local taxes is the result of reductions in grants and increased responsibilities from the provincial government.
“I think it’s fair to say that two per cent of the five per cent is just from provincial impacts,” he stated.
A summary provided with the town’s draft budget states, “Attempts to reduce Canada and Ontario deficits now place significant pressure on local municipal budgets. This results in the town starting 2013 with a $47,400 reduction in the annual Ontario Municipal Partnership Grant. Before entering into budget deliberations council had to find over 1% resulting from this reduced funding.
“Along with the funding decrease, ‘hidden’ downloads resulting from the province’s agenda are now directly impacting the town operating budget including increased reporting for Green Energy, $10,000, and Building Code reform increased training, $5,000. In 2014 and beyond ‘hidden’ downloads will include $60,000 or more for source water protection risk management, and funding accessibility costs for policy development and facilities. Lack of reforms to the Negligence Act to address joint and several liability will mean insurance rates will continue to grow as will road maintenance costs to meet higher standards imposed by recent court decisions.”
A $440,000 acquisition of former railway land in Clifford and the cost of installing water meters, about $1 million, has been factored into budget projections, the town states.
“Council was very careful in budget deliberations to keep operating costs under control and putting as much funding possible toward capital work. While there was some borrowing in the water system and to acquire the Clifford rail lands, this is not expected to have a long-term impact on tax rates. Future land sales will, in the long term, offset the rail land acquisition, and water revenues will fund borrowing needed to fund water meter installation.”
Water meter installation will be paid for through rates paid by customers of local water systems.
The draft budget also includes an increase of $75,000 for the implementation of a new pay grid for municipal employees. The figure represents the total cost of moving staff on to a 2013 pay grid designed to move town job rates to the median of 22 comparable municipalities in the area. Council has not approved a cost of living increase, but has approved the new pay grid. Under the newly-adopted town pay policy, any staff movement on the pay grid is performance based. Some of the $75,000 is funded by water and sewer rates, and so will not impact taxes. In future years council will make a decision in October on weather to implement cost of living increases for staff.
Council will hold a final pre-budget session at 4:30pm on March 19. The budget is expected to be presented for approval at the regular council meeting that evening.
The March 5 open house attracted about seven members of the public. White said most of the questions raised were about assessment concerns, rather than budget issues.
