Tweed asking provincial, federal governments for more financial help

Tweed is facing some serious budget issues and the municipality’s mayor says they need help from other levels of government.

Mayor Don DeGenova says the initial 2024 proposed budget featured a 54.19% tax increase.

They’ve managed to whittle that down to 17.8% but DeGenova says to do that, there can be no infrastructure projects next year.

DeGenova says part of the issue is that they pulled funding from 2024 to the 2023 budget to complete a major infrastructure project this year.

He says they did that because it did actually save the municipality money.

The Pomeroy-McClellan infrastructure project was initially a two-year project that they were able to complete in one year through negotiations and working with contractors.

It did save $1.1 million.

But there are other reasons the municipality is coming up short.

He says their taxes are lower than other neighbouring communities such as Bancroft, Centre Hastings, Marmora and Stirling and they have not kept pace with tax increases in those areas.

DeGenova believes that it was a mistake for previous councils – some of which he sat on as a councillor – to not implement higher tax hikes.

And he says if they don’t deal with current shortfalls now, the municipality will be in a very dire situation with significant infrastructure costs on the horizon.

“Within the next 10 years, we are going to have to spend $28 million on, I think it’s around 13 bridges, 13-14 bridges that are going to need extensive repairs or replacement.”

DeGenova says due to downloading over the years, Tweed is responsible for 52 bridges – more than any other municipality in Hastings County – and that governments aren’t providing funding like they used to.

DeGenova has sent letters to Hastings Lennox and Addington MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman and MPP Ric Bresee asking for more support, especially for infrastructure.

“We’re not the only rural community experiencing this. Small, rural communities are experiencing this all over the place. Because it seems that governments tend to focus on providing funds primarily to those larger centres and don’t necessarily – aren’t  fully up to speed on what’s happening in rural

He says Kramp-Neuman and Bresee have both responded positively to his request – Bresee has been able to set up a meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure at next month’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference.

Tweed Council meets again to discuss the proposed 2024 budget on January 23.