Town council has approved a 5% increase in the 2011 tax levy, although the average homeowner will see a tax increase closer to 3.2%.
On May 17, Erin council approved its 2011 budget, which includes total expenditures of almost $10.96-million, down about 12% from last year.
However, the amount to be raised through taxes – $4,257,075 – is up 5% from the 2010 total of $4,054,276. Increased assessment across the municipality means the actual increase on the town’s portion of the tax bill will be around 3.2%.
“You have to have some money to do this stuff,” Mayor Lou Maieron said of the expenditures in the budget.
He explained using funds from a past surplus to offset a tax increase likely just creates issues down the road.
“You can’t suck and blow all the time,” he said, adding he was pleased with the budget process and thankful for the input of the town’s “veteran councillors.”
The mayor lamented a number of capital projects that seem to have accumulated over the years – including leaking water pipes, deteriorating roads, a fire hall expansion and a new fire truck – likening them to ice burgs.
“I feel like I’m the captain of the Titanic,” Maieron quipped.
The average Erin homeowner with a house assessed at $363,750 will pay $927 in town taxes this year. That figure is up $28 from 2010, when the same home would have been assessed at $344,500 and charged $899 in taxes.
Combined with the county portion of $2,495 and the education portion of $840, the same homeowner will face a total tax bill this year of $4,263 – up $97 or 2.3% over last year ($4,166).
The town usually receives about 21% of the total tax bill paid by residents, with the majority going to the county and the school boards. That formula means a town spending increase of $40,000 results in about a 1% local tax increase.
Capital expenditures this year total just under $3-million – down 42% from the 2010 total of just over $5.16-million – and will include:
– $11,047 for accessibility improvements to the municipal building south of Hillsburgh;
– $16,000 for sign and safety improvements at Centre 2000;
– $16,478 for the town’s portion of a sewage treatment plant at Centre 2000 (costs shared with the school board);
– $66,569 for the design and environmental assessment for the replacement of a bridge on the 5th Line;
– $125,000 for the replacement of a large roads department truck;
– $149,968 for the completion of the Centre 2000 arena expansion and new foodbank;
– $185,000 for ongoing work on the town’s servicing and settlement master plan;
– $200,000 for a new pumper truck for the fire department (split over two years);
– $379,250 for the reconstruction of the Erin-Halton Townline;
– $661,579 for various upgrades to the town’s water system; and
– $800,000 for the reconstruction of the Hillsburgh fire hall (to be completed in 2012).
Other major expenses include $131,151 for conservation authority levies ($72,483 to the GRCA and $58,668 to the CVC). Council decided again not to provide the CVC with a $15,000 extra levy for projects in Erin.
Town revenues this year include provincial grants totalling $1,208,370 and federal funding of $341,964.
Maieron said the new fire hall is the biggest item in the budget, but there is also money set aside for road projects – he noted the most common complaint received this year is about the state of town roads – and the town will maintain the same level of services residents have come to expect.
Erin’s 2011 tax levy increase would have been closer to 1%, but council also voted in favour of transferring an additional $155,000 to “working capital” reserves ($75,000 for roads and $80,000 for the fire hall).
“I like to plan for projects and put the money away, rather than borrow,” Maieron told the Advertiser.
Council had a lengthy discussion on whether or not to allocate the reserves to specific accounts. Councillor Barb Tocher suggested placing the $75,000 portion in a general reserves account, but councillor John Brennan disagreed.
He said that would mean the money would likely be spent on something else and next year the town would have less road reserves and wonder what to do.
Tocher replied she made the suggestion because the town is facing a “pay equity” decision this year and it is not known how much the municipality will have to pay, yet it won’t have any choice in the matter.
Mayor Lou Maieron said there is $300,000 in general reserves that can be used cover that matter, and he was against asking residents for an extra 4% increase without saying what that money is covering.
“I agree with allocating it,” added councillor Josie Wintersinger.
Erin council unanimously passed the 2011 budget, but one change Maieron said is coming for sure next year is an earlier start to the budget process.
“We’re not doing the budget again in May,” he said.
Erin is perennially the last municipality in the county to complete its budget. Staff and councillors frequently voice aspirations of an earlier passage, but that seldom happens before the third week of May.
