Residents here will be paying 8.12% more in town taxes this year than in 2007.
Last week, Erin council passed its 2008 budget, which includes total expenditures of just over $10.94-million. That includes $3,835,319 in total capital expenditures, up $1.1-million over last year.
The total amount of taxes to be raised for town purposes is almost $3.7-million – about $320,322 more than in 2007.
Though the town’s tax rate bylaw has yet to be passed, an average resident with a home assessed at $300,000 will pay $837 in town taxes and $3,906 in total taxes. Last year those figures were $774 and $3,756 respectively.
When asked about the size of this year’s increase – which is much higher than the 3% increase last year and the zero increase in 2006 – Mayor Rod Finnie said any budget increase is “always too high.”
But he added, “The fact is, there’s work that needs to be done.”
He noted the town has set aside almost $1.9-million for road work this year, including the following paving projects:
– 24 Sideroad (also known as Station Road) from 5th Line to Hillsburgh;
– 2nd Line from County Road 124 to 27 Sideroad;
– 8th Line between 15 and 17 Sideroads;
– completion of the Erin-East Garafraxa Townline ($108,000 from last year’s budget and $36,000 from this year’s);
– a section of the Erin-Halton Townline; and
– possibly a section of the 9th Line (Main Street south of Erin village), although some of that may have to be put off until next year.
“What we’re trying to do is catch the roads before they need reconstruction,” Finnie said, citing the age-old health adage: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.”
He explained that the town regularly receives plenty of calls in the spring about the condition of gravel roads, which he said is “the direct result of us not spending on roads in the past.” So the town will also be laying down a lot more gravel this year.
Finnie added that the same can be said for paving projects, which is why the town has increased the amount of paving planned in 2008.
Other major capital expenditures this year include:
– $992,000 for a new water pumping station in Hillsburgh, which will be covered by grant money;
– $445,200 for the fire department, the majority of which will cover the replacement of a tanker, as well as a $90,000 increase in wages for the department as a result of renegotiations this year;
– about $35,000 for new lights at the Erin community centre;
– around $29,000 for a new roof at the Hillsburgh arena; and
– about $19,000 for a new tractor for Barbour Field.
Finnie told The Advertiser replacing the fire tanker is perhaps overdue.
“It will provide us with more certainty in our ability to deliver water to remote locations,” he said, noting the old tanker has been in service for almost a quarter of a century.
Finnie also said the town will be hiring a financial analyst on an 18-month contract to help the town comply with new requirements of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB), including financial accounting and reporting.
As well, one part-time public works employee will be hired on a full-time basis to help the town file water reports to the Ministry of the Environment and to assist in other departments as needed.
And the town will also be spending about $180,000 on a new pedestrian bridge to improve safety for students walking to and from St. John Brebeuf School, which Finnie said parents have been requesting for some time.
The mayor said while an 8% increase may be high, it is far lower than the 12% increase with which the town started. He also said the town receives only about 20% of the total tax bills paid by residents, with the majority going to the county and the school boards.
He again stressed that the increase was unavoidable this year.
“We really felt that we had to do some of this maintenance work,” Finnie said.
Erin council passed the budget by a 4-1 vote, with only councillor Ken Chapman opposed. Chapman had previously expressed concern that the 8.12% tax increase is too high and requested staff re-visit the budget, but his request was denied.
