Wellington North council has approved a budget of $6,491,207 for 2015.
While the overall tax levy increase is four per cent, the impact to ratepayers will be significantly less.
Discussion was brief at Wellington North council on April 13, but more was discussed on April 8 as treasurer Paul Dowber went through the proposed budget with council members and a handful of members of the public.
It also marks the first municipal budget under Wellington North’s new treasurer, who noted budget information was sent to department heads in September 2014.
Information was sent back to him around the end of the year “and we’ve been hashing it out since to make it the best budget we possibly could.”
Dowber added, “Significant work has been done to present the right information for decision-making purposes.”
He said department heads were asked to work towards a zero increase to operating budgets where possible, with any additional funds required directed towards capital projects.
At the same time, Dowber wanted to continue an emphasis on building up reserves and reserve funds to offset future infrastructure costs and create flexibility for future budgets.
He wants to develop a long-term capital budget through the township’s asset management plan. In addition, Dowber wants to see a more collaborative approach to funding based on township-wide priorities instead of department priorities.
User-pay budgets such as the building department, waterworks, sanitary sewers and streetlights, should remain revenue neutral for the municipality, he said.
Dowber noted that while the township’s portion of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund increased by 2.1% ($22,600), future decreases are more likely.
He also noted this year’s budget brings with it a 1.5% increase for unionized staff with changes to non-unionized staff yet to be determined.
One big savings for Wellington North was a 6.4% ($35,000) decrease in the township insurance policy for its wastewater facilities.
Of the items impacting the final tax bill, Dowber noted the Louise Marshall Hospital contribution agreed to by council will be treated as a special change and identified on tax bills as such.
“The contribution will have no impact on the 2015 budget,” Dowber said, but it will have an impact to overall residential tax bills. Council made a decision earlier this year to treat the hospital funding donation separately from the budget itself, but the amount would be included on tax bills as a separate line item.
He noted the budget includes $10,000 to build an elections reserve to cover costs of the 2018 municipal election.
One of the important factors is Wellington North is not looking to increase service levels. Dowber said there was real growth in Wellington North in 2014 and that, combined with updated assessment information, projects a reassessment growth of 17%, which is being phased in over the period of 2013 to 2016.
He said this year’s tax revenues go up $249,663 (4%) 1.5% related to real growth and 2.5% the result of assessment increases. Dowber then stated that the increase is based on capital – not operating costs.
He noted that when department heads were asked to come up with a 0% increase, “they actually came back with a slight decrease,” which in turn left more room to fund capital projects. Some of the capital highlights include:
– fire emergency response vehicle ($40,000) and Mount Forest fire hall renovations ($50,000);
– Arthur community centre dehumidifier ($31,000) and sound system ($8,500);
– a replacement plow truck ($240,000) and pickup trucks ($80,000);
– Line 10 West paving ($404,250);
– Bridge #2028 Sideroad 13 ($193,500);
– Bridge #11, Concession 11 ($125,000);
– Bridge #2051, Concession 8 ($115,000);
– a joint Frederick Street roads project in Arthur with Wellington County ($240,734);
– sanitary sewers on Frederick Street, also a joint project with the county ($638,868);
– waterworks on Frederick Street with county ($537,019);
– roads on Miller/John/North Water Street ($367,000);
– sanitary sewers on Miller/John/North Water Street ($268,510); and
– waterworks on Miller/John/North Water Street ($487,300).
As to the impact on taxpayers, the local impact on residential taxpayers (based on an average $221,778 assessment) is 1.06% or $12.29. Combining the township and county tax rates would bring the tax increase to $21.97. The additional contribution to support Louise Marshall Hospital brings that amount up by another $12.50.
Overall, once the school levy is included, an average residential assessment would increase by a total of $34.47.
Finance chair Sherry Burke thanked staff and residents who attended the budget meeting, saying the budget “follows a progressive approach focussing upon the continuation and building, maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure while keeping in mind the impact on the Wellington North taxpayers.”
She said the introduction of project justification reports are part of an overall plan to help council make sound financial decisions. Burke also thanked staff for buying into an approach to look after the township as a whole.
Councillor Steve McCabe asked whether the justification sheets could be placed online for public viewing. Dowber had no issue with that approach, only the amount of data involved in hosting it online. He explained that as a change from previous years, capital projects were not just listed, but the reasons why the work was needed and what the outcome would be were also included.
Mayor Andy Lennox said he’d been playing with the idea of putting the justification reports online in order to make the process more open.
In a report to the Wellington North’s Administration and Finance committee on March 25 CAO Mike Givens stated “budgets over the last two years have been more conservative from a capital perspective than what is being proposed for 2015.
“The focus was on taking any operating savings or additional funds from the OMPF or other sources and directing them to the capital budget. This has allowed the township to strengthen reserves and reserve funds to put us in a stronger financial position now.
“I, as the treasurer at the time, strongly supported this approach and believe it was appropriate. Now as the CAO, I would suggest that the time has come to be more aggressive as the current treasurer and the rest of the senior management team are proposing with the 2015 capital budget.
“The people of Wellington North spoke during the election and we have a strong five-member council who have the support of the ratepayers to make the difficult decisions.
“Difficult decisions mean considering the best interests of all of Wellington North now and in the future. Considering long-term impacts during the decision making process can complicate matters but is something this council has committed to.”
Givens noted Andy Lennox “challenged us to make a significant impact on the infrastructure deficit during this term of council. Passing the 2015 budget is a first step.
“Now is not the time to dwell on things that have happened in the past, now is the time to consider the impact we can have on the present and the future of Wellington North.”
