Treasurer Tracey Neifer gave her presentation to Council regarding the 2023 Budget.
She noted that there is a 6% tax rate increase. This means that a property that is valued at $170,521 would have a tax increase of $80.92.
If Council did use a 7% increase in order to put more money into reserves for bridge repair, then the tax rate increase for a house valued at $170,521 would be $94.41.
The municipal budget for operations in 2023 reflects a tax levy increase of $458,150 which requires a tax rate increase of 6.0% to achieve a balanced budget. It has been past practice to transfer funds to reserves annually to offset the year’s
capital budget. In 2021, the budget for reserves was $1,014,772, for 2022 $1,041,608, and for 2023 $1,126,719 to include a 6.0% increase.
The allocation of the tax dollar remains consistent between 2022 and 2023 with the top areas being Policing, Recreation and Transportation Services, representing 78 cents in 2022 and 74 cents in 2023 for every dollar of taxation raised.
The tax requirement for Municipal Services has increased by 8.1% ($488,947).
Protection Services represents 28.77% (2022 - 30.49%) of the municipal services budget, largely due to the cost of Police Services which are more than $1M. Overall budget in this area is 2.01% increase or $37,023.
Transportation Services includes all aspects of road maintenance, streetlights, and salt/snow plowing, as well as the Municipality’s contribution to SMART (Saugeen Mobility & Regional Transit), representing 41.29% (2022 - 40.87%) of the
municipal services budget and a 9.24% or $227,783 budget increase.
Environmental Services, in 2022 this represented a small percentage of the municipal services budget, 0.46%, whereas in 2023, this area is revenue generating of $1,627, so not a draw on taxation. Overall, the budget has decreased by $29,394. This is largely attributed to a revenue increase in Garbage Collection, and expense savings in both Waste Disposal and Recycling.
Health Services includes the cemeteries in Arran, Chesley, Elderslie, Paisley and Tara, the medical clinics in Chelsey and Paisley, and the costs related to Physician Recruitment and attribute to 0.77% (2022 - 0.74%) of the municipal services budget. An overall budget increase of 12.21% or $5,524.
Recreation Services includes programs, ball fields, splashpads, facilities, libraries, museum, and day camps, representing 16.23% (2022 - 18.32%) of the municipal services budget and a 4.83% or $54,153 budget decrease. The budget decrease is attributed to a number of areas as seen below, and is represented by an increase in revenue $46,865 (7.7%) and $65,101 (6.1%) decrease in wages and benefits, and an increase in operating expenses of $22,142 (3.2%).
Planning and Economic Development also includes tile drainage, zoning, gravel pits and our downtown decorations, which represents 5.09% (2022 – 4.39%) of the municipal services budget and a 24.48% or $65,808 budget increase. That largest increase is attributed to zoning and downtown decorations.
The budget presented for 2023 includes a realignment of services to better reflect the management and alignment of services for Building and By-law Enforcement. In addition to the two areas previously presented as Building Services, Building Permits and Property Standards, the budget now includes Animal Control and By-law Enforcement. The two departments, Property Standards and By-law Enforcement have been merged into one. The area of By-law Enforcement is operated in accordance with the Municipal Act, whereas Building Permits is governed by the Building Code Act.
Water and Sewer Services are self-funded through the user fees charged to the property owners for the use of the respective systems. Council formally adopted Financial Plans for the period 2021-2026. Staff have reviewed the plans and updated the respective operating budgets where required.