Thurlow Ward residents had the chance to hear what this next year will look like at a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening.
Councillors Paul Carr and Bill Sandison hosted the town hall at the Gerry Masterson Thurlow Community Centre with about 75 residents in attendance.
Part of the evening highlighted what the 2019 budget could look like for residents.
Councillor Carr stressed budget talks begin next week and all the numbers presented are not final.
He personally wants to see the operating budget set at a limit of 1.5 per cent over 2018 with no decrease in services.
That may be a hard task as the operating budget saw an increase of 3.8% because of a slight decrease in revenues, increased operating costs and pre-approved budget items.
The draft operating budget sees an increase of 9.06%.
The presentation noted this year’s capital budget increased by $7 million to $39.4 million over last year.
In terms of what that means for those in Ward Two, they cover what makes up 17% of the total taxes.
Belleville Councillor Paul Carr at the Gerry Masterson Thurlow Community Centre for the 2019 Thurlow Town Hall. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Councillor Carr says he wants to see the operating budget set at a limit of 1.5% over 2018 with no decrease in services.
One man pointed out many seeking election last fall ran on reducing taxes and wanted to know what Councillors Carr and Sandison are doing in regards to making life affordable, as many people are on a fixed income.
Councillor Carr said he is mindful of costs as he opens a property tax bill too and he will try to suppress increases as much as possible while maintaining the level of services.
One woman questioned why the City will see such an increase in its debt in 2020 as it jumps from $134.2 million this year to $154.5 million.
Councillor Carr says that is the cost of the new police headquarters which won’t be on the books until the building is complete.
Budget discussions begin April 2 at 9 a.m.
Councillor Sandison showed those in attendance the City is spending $2.75 million in 2019 in road maintenance, with a majority of surface treatment and slurry being spent in Thurlow Ward.
Belleville Councillor Bill Sandison
Some of the 2019 approved capital projects include Maitland Drive/Mineral Road, Maitland Drive Paved Blvd., Harmony Road Bridge joint repairs, road surface treatments on Bethel Raod (Willett to Phillipston), Harmony Road (River Road to Hwy. 37), River Road, north of Signal Brewery to dead-end, Brennan Road and Airport Road (Mitchell to Boundary Road) totalling $1.25 million.
Blessington Road will see $150,000 in slurry seal as well.
Other approved projects include a dozer for the Thurlow Landfill site and landfill site upgrades.
One resident asked if Hwy. 37 will see any work done this year.
Councillor Carr said Hwy. 37 from North of the 401 will be paved this summer.
A couple of residents asked if Thurlow Ward would see transit services reaching them any time soon.
Sandison stated he is hoping to see residents complete a survey that will be mailed out, and will also be available online.
Carr said the City has a great transit director in Paul Buck and he feels they are in a good position with him looking at expanding transit north.
He continued on by saying the trial run of transit to Thurlow Ward last year wasn’t executed as well as it could have been and in order to move forward, the City needs to gather opinions of residents and go from there.
One resident was concerned about the lack of doctors in the city.
Councillor Sandison says the City has been quite active and they have a number of successes, as they’ve been able to get five doctors to agree to start practicing medicine here within the last year.
He did note it has been a challenge, but they are doing everything they can.
