Councillors here are not pleased with the rising levies set by conservation authorities.
“They always seem to go up, and we don’t have much choice but to accept it,” councillor Mike Downey said in an interview on Monday.
This year Mapleton Township will pay $68,936 to the Grand River Conservation Authority, an increase of 6.74% over its 2007 levy of $64,582.
Dave Schultz, a communications officer with the GRCA, noted that the Mapleton increase is below the 6.99% average increase for the watershed this year.
However, of the six Wellington County lower tier municipalities in the watershed, Mapleton has the second highest increase in 2008. Guelph-Eramosa is first, with a jump of 7.49%.
Downey said in years past the township has invited GRCA officials to a council meeting to explain the reasons for levy increases – which seem excessive each year – but this year the township did not bother, because it never seems to help clear anything up.
Downey expressed frustration that the GRCA often boasts about improvements in the watershed – like recent upgrades at the Conestogo Dam – but in the end, the municipalities are paying for them.
About 95% of the current value assessment in Mapleton Township is located in the Grand River watershed. The other 5% is in the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, which means the township pays levies to two Conservation Authorities.
This year the township will pay the MVCA $6,274, an increase of 9.83% over the 2007 levy of $5,657.
