ELORA – Centre Wellington council gave staff direction to keep the 2021 tax increase to 1.4 per cent or less as it begins preparing next year’s draft budget.
The budget directions report was presented to council at a committee of the whole meeting on June 15.
Staff had broken out the preliminary draft budget into eight sections and council voted on each one separately.
Overall, council was okay with six of the eight recommendations, that would generally keep tax increases to a minimum. For example, council approved the presumption that assessment growth would increase by 2%, and that growth-related infrastructure should be funded by development charges.
Staff assumed a 15% reduction in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and estimated the township would receive $230,900 from that fund.
Council also agreed to increase the dedicated capital levy by 0.5 per cent, although councillor Bob Foster thought staff should rein in costs before asking taxpayers to continue to pay into this fund.
“Staff should get control of operating costs,” Foster said. “We should eliminate this dedicated capital levy.”
“This levy is to address the bridges we closed,” said councillor Ian MacRae.
“I will be glad to see (the levy) coming down,” said councillor Steven VanLeeuwen. “But this is a good fund for bridges.”
Council was okay with staff’s plan to include $1.5 million in growth-related capital projects that would be funded through development charges.
And councillors also agreed to allocate funding from outside sources to specific reserves – for vehicle replacement, for insurance and WSIB claims, and for legal matters, for example.
Dan Wilson, managing director of corporate services, told council that the township expects funding from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation will be reduced by $1.1 million because of casino closures due to COVID-19.
Council also approved the budget schedule, that does include time for public input and delegations.
But council was divided when it came to recommendations about increasing the tax rate and fees and charges by 1.4%.
Wilson said staff used a combination of the consumer price index and inflation rate to arrive at a weighted index and noted that last year the figure was 2.7%.
Foster didn’t agree with a proposed 1.4% increase.
“This is the year for zero per cent increase,” he said. “We cannot continue as if nothing has happened. During the pandemic we tried to help our citizens and we need to strive for that objective.”
Councillor Kirk McElwain agreed, noting, “A lot of families can’t afford a higher rate of taxation.”
Mayor Kelly Linton noted staff had already recommended reducing the increase from 2.7 to 1.4% to reduce the hardship on taxpayers, “but I would like to see it closer to one per cent. Zero would be tough to get to.”
Linton asked councillors what services could be cut to get there.
Foster suggested deferring vehicle replacements for a year or two and putting a moratorium on hiring consultants.
Councillor Stephen Kitras thought 10% could be saved through efficiencies.
“It’s a standard rule (of business) that you can cut 10 per cent and not hurt,” he said. “Zero per cent is very achievable without losing services.”
“But we have to consider our infrastructure,” said MacRae. “We can’t get too far behind the eight-ball.”
Linton introduced an addendum to the motion for staff to provide a list of services that could be cut to get to 1%, which passed 4-3 (Linton, MacRae, VanLeeuwen and Neil Dunsmore were in favour; Foster, McElwain and Kitras were opposed).
Foster introduced a motion to cap fees and charges to 0% that was defeated 4-3 (with the same split as the previous vote).
VanLeeuwen said there will probably be increased costs this year to provide services such as hand sanitizer and protective gear and cleaning supplies, and those are not yet known.
“It sounds great to reduce fees and charges,” said Linton. “I’m in favour of adding a caveat for users and customers who have trouble paying.”
Council did not make a decision on the 2021 budget; it provided direction to staff on where to start as they prepare the draft budget.
