by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Treasurer Marsha Hawthorne is pleased with the $8-plus million budget she presented, and was approved by Whitewater Region council, at a special council meeting in May.
It’s a budget that is a combined effort of several staff people throughout the municipality, she said.
“This budget presentation has been the combined effort of the CAO, all department heads, staff, chair of corporate services, council as well as outside contracts,” she wrote in her report. “I wish to thank each of them for their support during this process.”
In 2016, the township realized an assessment growth of 1.2 percent , which represents the physical change to properties during the 2015 year, she explained.
For the taxpayer, Ms. Hawthorne said there is a 7.2 percent levy increase on the municipal tax, but the tax rate will decrease by 3.9 per cent. Explaining, she said, on a home assessed at $100,000, if the taxes were $553.64 in 2015, they will decrease to $531.97, if there is no change in the assessment.
She further noted the residential education tax rates have dropped to $188 on a $100,000 assessed home while the County of Renfrew residential tax rates also dropped, going down to $345.41 from $347.89.
Therefore, the overall combined 2016 tax rate per 100,000 residential assessed value has dropped from $1,096.53 to $1,065.38, a decrease of $31.15.
Ms. Hawthorne noted this decrease would only occur if there is no increase to the assessment value of the property, which would be rare.
In reviewing the township’s $8,528,527 budget, revenue includes $4,708,173 in taxes; $1,192,133 in provincial grants; $275,975 from federal grants; $1,172,182 in fees and service charges, $1,089,024 from reserves and $91,040 from street lights.
The taxation revenue is just over 55 percent of the total budget, she said.
The expenses for this year are $1,395,287 in general government; $1,658,454 for protective services; $3,926,978 for transportation services; $706,233 for environmental services; $467,484 for recreation and culture services and $374,091 for planning and development.
The largest expenditure takes up just over 46 percent of the budget, with protective services coming in at just over 19 percent, Ms. Hawthorne noted. She noted the total increase from the OPP costs of last year to this year’s budgeted amount, has been put onto the ratepayer.
The building and waste management (environmental services) have no capital expenditures this year, she said. The public works department will spend the most with a total of $1,554,670, which is 75 percent of the capital works budget. The other departments spending will see $34,531 in administration; $239,420 in fire; $68,500 for parks/recreation; $78,365 in arena; $30,000 for water and $90,000 in sewer. Water and sewer are user-pay only funded projects.
In the municipal reserves, it’s expected there will be $2,629,756 at year’s end, Ms. Hawthorne said. She noted per household within the township, that totals about $741.82, while the provincial average is around $1,100 per household.
Councillor Chris Olmstead said this year’s budget was much easier to understand now that he has experience under his belt.
However, he wants people to understand the large increase is due to the increased policing costs which the municipality has no control over.
“Eighty percent of the increase is due to the increased police costs,” he stated. “It (the increase) could have been less than two percent.”
When she completed the review, Ms. Hawthorne said, “The budget is fair and transparent. We are certainly providing services. We are certainly providing projects that need to get done.”
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin believes there is a real need to have a discussion on protective services.
“What can be done?” he questioned. “Five percent is an awful increase. Can we impose a user fee as a way to recoup costs?
“We have to see if there is some way to come up with the money. We have to show people that every call to the OPP costs us money.”
Ms. Hawthorne noted Whitewater Region is not unique in the increase to policing costs. A neighbouring municipality’s tax increase was 8.9 percent and a large part of that was due to the OPP costs.
The Money
Revenue for the municipality’s $8-plus million budget will come from a variety of sources including administration fees; sales; fire fees; building fees; animal control, enforcement; planning; roads; street lights; recycling; waste; park fees; drains; and transfers from reserves.
Expenditures
There are varied expenditures in the many departments for the Township of Whitewater Region.
Council’s total is $163,267, which is an increase from last year’s actual expense of $135,056. Expenditures include $91,000 in salaries; $4,000 in travel and expenses; $21,000 for conferences/tradeshows; $900 fax/phones; $4,000 in public relations; $3,000 for community initiatives; $20,000 for the official plan and $5,000 for the Muskrat Lake sub-committee.
The administration and administration building costs total $1,008,620, which is down from last year’s actual expense of $1,366,935. Expenses include $470,000 in salaries; $3,500 travel and expenses; $8,000 conferences/tradeshows; $13,000 office supplies; $13,000 computer expenses; $15,000 legal fees; $13,000 website; $2,000 Christmas levy; $24,000 tax write-offs; $10,000 economic development; $1,000 cleaning supplies; $13,000 hydro; $14,000 telephone; $20,000 building repairs and maintenance; $13,200 cleaning contract; and $17,500 capital expenditures.
The fire department’s budget is $698,092, which is an increase from last year’s actual expense of $606,513. The breakdown includes $200,000 in salaries; $13,000 for inspections; $16,500 for education, seminars and workshops; $13,000 in materials/supplies; $8,500 in telephone; $27,824 in insurance; $10,000 equipment repairs and maintenance; $55,000 building repairs and maintenance; and $184,421 capital expenditures.
The building department’s budget total $125,788, which is just slightly over last year’s actual of $121,372. Expenses include $81,000 in salaries; $2,000 in education, seminars and workshops; $2,600 for conferences and tradeshows; $3,000 for fuel and oil; $3,000 to reserves; $500 in materials/supplies and $200 for advertising.
The planning budget is $82,400, an increase from last year’s $7,552 budget. This includes $60,000 for salary (which it didn’t have last year), $5,000 for County of Renfrew prep costs, $4,500 for zoning bylaw review and $10,00 in miscellaneous.
The roads budget is $3,779,027, which is an increase from last year’s expense of $2,830,230. Expenses include $800,000 in salaries; $18,000 for licences; $27,000 in garage supplies; $25,000 for gas/heating; $140,000 in fuel and oil; $1,000 in office supplies; $5,000 health and safety expenses; $160,000 in equipment repairs and maintenance; $47,070 for building repairs and maintenance; $110,000 cold mix asphalt; $6,000 tree trimming; $100,000 for gravel; $95,000 in dust control; $554,000 in capital equipment; and $953,600 for major road construction.
The landfill budget totals $506,733, a decrease from last year’s expenditure of $642,271. This includes $178,694 for waste; $10,175 for the Cobden landfill; $16,125 for the Westmeath landfill and various expenses for the Ross landfill, including $141,000 in salaries; $10,000 for excavator repairs and maintenance; $20,000 for chipper and grinder rental; $24,000 for monitoring; and $25,000 for reserves.
Other budgets include: Crossing guards $21,865; Pembroke Airport $10,386; recycling $199,500; street lights $115,700; animal control $27,703; emergency $8,200; police $952,162, an increase of 5.4 percent from last year’s $722,501; parks $77,227; tourist booth $76,276; the beach $15,195; boat launches $4,000; tourism $13,510; $1,930 for health; $52,036 for the library (down from last year’s $138,854 due to no renovations); $169,988 for recreation, which includes $75,365 in miscellaneous expenses, $50,011 in yearly grants, $10,000 for Cobden paving, and $22,352 Cobden arena repairs; $7,547 for the museum; $49,775 for the industrial park; $130,100 for drainage; and $223,400 into reserves
