Residents here can expect a 3% increase to the town portion of their tax bill this year.
At a special meeting on May 6, Minto council passed its 2009 budget.
The province passed certain regulations governing tax ratios and policies in early April that are required in order for upper tiers such as Wellington County to determine its policies.
Minto tax rates will not be set until the county passes its tax rate bylaw. That is expected to happen at county council’s May 28 meeting.
Ratios for various assessment classes and other tax policies may be changed at that time.
The Minto budget includes total expenditures of $15.4-million, with $5.6-million in capital spending.
Treasurer Gord Duff said the total expenditure is slightly less than 2008 (down 2.0% or $315,000). The portion of net expenditures funded by tax dollars combined with decreases in property assessments should result in an expected tax increase of just under 3% for a typical residential home, assuming the tax policies and ratios in effect for 2008 remain unchanged.
There was province-wide reassessment in 2009. Tax rates will be based upon assessed values as of Jan. 1, 2008. Taxes levied on individual properties will vary from the average increase according to the changes in assessment on the particular property.
Major capital projects to be undertaken in 2009 include :
– $1.9-million in upgrades to the Harriston sanitary sewer system;
– road reconstruction, replacement of sewer and water pipes and streetscape enhancements to William Street in Palmerston, at a cost of $540,000;
– purchase of a multi-purpose sidewalk tractor for $140,000;
– reconstruction of the Elora Street connecting link in north Harriston;
– $480,000 in repairs to municipal recreation facilities, including the refrigeration equipment at the Palmerston arena, repairs to the Palmerston tennis courts, and new tables for the Clifford community hall; and
– $520,000 for rural roads and bridges construction.
Minto must get full payment of its water and wastewater systems from users, and that includes debt servicing. Those costs are covered through user charges and fees.
Minto also intends to use funds received in 2008 for road work to complete several projects.
Over $1-million in grants from the province will be allocated to projects in 2009 and the town will use $300,000 of the federal gas tax to assist in funding of roads projects.
The balance of reserves and reserve funds will be about $5.7-million at the end of 2009.
Much of that reduction can be attributed to moving the road grant funds from reserves to capital funding.
This year’s budget also contains an additional $1,150,000 in new, external borrowing by debentures to fund the municipality’s share of the Harriston sanitary sewer project.
Duff wrote in his report on the budget, “The economic downturn has put pressure on everyone.”
He said the provincial and federal governments chose municipalities to provide stimulus to the construction sector of the economy.
“Council and staff have been proactive in ensuring that the town of Minto receives its fair share of infrastructure funding,” he said. “It is hoped that through being as efficient as possible in using available resources and working in partnership with community groups and residents, our local economy will emerging from the recession as soon as possible and in a sound fiscal condition.”
Following the meeting, Duff explained he tried to present the information as he had in the past, but he knew of other municipalities that had done it differently. He said new legislation is changing how the budgeting is done.
Duff said that it is still a cash-based budget. Total debt servicing is now roughly $1.2-million annually on about $7.5-million for various projects.
He pointed out it is not as simple as suggesting that the services costs are not simply coming out of the levy because the municipality has other sources of revenue, such as grants, user fees, or debentures.
The $3.4-million levy amounts to a roughly 3% increase.
“But the actual spending is actually down,” he said.
The total budget of $15.4-million, compares to about $15.6-million last year.
He said that for a home with a $150,000 assessment, that would translate to an additional $27 per year (for municipal purposes).
If nothing else is altered, Duff estimates that would mean $894 in local taxes.
This year, the province brought down regulations on tax ratios and ranges. Those regulations did not come down until April.
He added the other challenge was his work encompasses several spreadsheets.
With the budget are capital expenses of $5.5-million, which he considers to be very similar to last year’s capital spending.
Unexpended capital financing was $2.7-million for the start of the year.
Duff said that last year, there was a considerable amount of grants which came in that were not used. That cash was set aside for use in 2009.
He noted council had a six hour budget meeting in early April. When asked what the original projections were, Duff said he works through numerous department head meetings in order to bring reasonable figures to council.
As to what did not make the budget, Duff said he believed there are always specific projects and road work or recreation projects that could be done.
“There’s always more projects than there is money – and they are all worthwhile,” Duff said.
The amount coming out of reserves is higher than normal, but the amount in the reserves was high last year as well.
As a result, those will drop from $7.4 to $5.7 million.
“It’s a balancing act between taxes and reserves.”
He said that like other municipalities, “If we are successful in these grant applications, spending will go up, but grant revenues will go up as well. It won’t really change the tax levy … this year.”
To compare to last year’s budget changes see the coverage on the Wellington Advertiser website at http://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/index.cfm?page=detail&itmno=1023.
