The pieces are starting to fall into place when it comes to the 2020 budget in Prince Edward County, but there are still some hard decisions to be made.
Day three of discussions got under way Thursday in the council chamber at Shire Hall and saw council begin to really get into the meat and potatoes of where they want the final numbers to fall.
The calculated operating budget was sitting at $38,488,249 when council recessed for the day on Thursday afternoon.
Director of Finance Amanda Carter calculated the net to be raised after 2019 assessment growth at -1.62% when compared to the 2019 budget, once council decided which items would be included in this year’s budget and which ones would be deferred.
This decrease still includes the one percent hospital levy council committed to, which is $372,001.
Chief Administrative Officer Marcia Wallace and Carter provided a list of four ‘nice to have’ items for council consideration.
The list included a reserve for winter control ($765,125 or 2% of levy), a roads capital levy ($765,125 or 2% of levy), the creation of a climate emergency reserve of 3% ($1,147,688) and the unfinanced capital for the Picton Fire Hall and the Wellington and District Community Centre totalling $32,311.
Carter said if the “nice to have” list was included in the budget as it stands, the net to be raised after growth would be 5.31%.
CAO Wallace recommended the 3% for climate emergency reserve because she said the province believes municipalities should have a contingency that amounts to 3% of their levy for weather-related disasters. She says any funds below the $1.14 million would need to be covered by the municipality before the province would provide additional funds.
Councillor Brad Nieman said he believes people can’t afford a four, five or eight percent increase. He said people don’t mind paying taxes as long as they are getting something for them and residents are going to start seeing that, but in his opinion, he can’t justify a budget higher than 2.5%.
Councillor Janice Maynard told those around the horseshoe that the municipality is in a crisis situation and to just put a cost of living increase on the tax bill wouldn’t even scratch the surface and is in fact irresponsible. She said she would rather pay an additional $100-$200 on her taxes than replace the front end of her vehicle.
Other suggestions included a one percent increase for climate emergency for the next three years, two percent for roads with a half percent for winter control and climate.
Councillor John Hirsch felt the residents would be comfortable with a bit of a tax increase if they can convince the public they are doing something with the money.
CAO Wallace thought it would be productive for council to go home and think on the various percentage ranges council would be comfortable implementing and they would discuss it further on Friday.
Budget discussions begin again tomorrow at 9 a.m. with water and waste water operating and capital budgets still to be considered along with the list of four council considerations.
