Quinte West Council got its first look at the proposed capital budget for the next fiscal year and beyond, on Monday night.
Acting Deputy Director of Financial Services Caleb DenOuden outlined a capital project spending plan that totals just over $37.1 million, through to the end of 2022.
DenOuden says the idea to look further down the line will help staff to plan better and lead to better and easier decisions for councillors.
“The ability to plan and engineer projects ahead of time so that they can be released for RFP or tender well in advance of the year they should be completed. It allows staff to better manage cash flow and investments and more importantly, it allows council to set a clear plan of what strategies and goals will be accomplished, as opposed to setting goals year-to-year.”
The majority of the capital budget, about $25 million or so, will be sunk into road work throughout the city, with another $4.5 million going into parks-related projects.
Spending on corporate facilities, IT services and the fire department are the three other areas that would exceed $1 million each, if the budget is approved.
The hope is that staff will be able to stick to its goal of a 1% capital levy, but that will depend on the impacts of COVID-19 and how operating budget discussions go in the new year.
You can click here to read the full report, which includes breakdowns on projects, costs and funding sources.
A screen grab of Quinte West Council’s online meeting outlining the proposed capital budget and water/sewer capital budget, for 2021 to 2022. (Photo: YouTube / Quinte West City Council)
DenOuden also presented water and sewer capital spending plans for the next two years on Monday.
The water project budget will total about $11 million over those same two years and features at least one major project that will increase capacity on some parts of the city’s water system.
$5.3 million is being set aside to create a loop connecting the Frankford Water System to those in Trenton and Batawa, which would be funded through $1.2 million worth of development charges, $100,000 from reserves and $4 million in debt.
Councillor Al DeWitt noted the importance of that major project.
“Having all of these connections is paramount. It’s our responsibility to be able to deliver safe drinking water to our residents. I know it’s a lot of money but having this loop is cheaper than redoing the treatment plan, so I just wanted to make note of how important that is.”
Staff also plan to spend almost $4 million on sewer-related projects including water main repairs and various other upgrades.
You can click here to read the water and sewer capital plan.
