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Kincardine tax increase now sits at about 5% By Liz Dadson |
Kincardine Council To Comment on this article Click Here |
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Kincardine council embarks on its final scheduled budget meeting tonight at 4 p.m., and the 2011 tax increase currently sits at about five per cent. The third budget meeting, held Monday night (March 21) wrapped up the operating budget portion, zeroing in on building and planning, recreation, economic development, tourism, and police services. Chief building official Michele Barr said the person in charge of the municipality's small animal control, is planning to retire. Boarding requirements will be an issue, she said, because the current official does it now. Under the building and planning department, the recommendation is to eliminate the termite control program, saving $11,800. Barr said the program basically involves hiring summer students to do termite inspections and monitor any outbreaks and infestations. Council agreed that the information could be posted on the municipal website that if a termite inspection is required, the municipality can do it, for a fee. "I think it would be short-sighted to eliminate the program altogether," said councillor Ron Coristine. "Termites can cause extensive damage - $50,000 to $100,000 - in homes. That can be mitigated if the homeowner is educated and knowledgeable. It's devastating for people who have discovered they have termites in their home." Council also agreed to have a report brought forward regarding the appropriate monitoring and information to provide, and the right fee for the service. Under planning, Barr said the major project is an Environmental Assessment (EA) for extending Russell Street east into the Kincardine Business Park. Work also continues on the EA for water and sewer in Inverhuron. The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority budget has been passed with a 3.6-per-cent increase, which amounts to a 4.97-per-cent increase for Kincardine, said Coristine. Recreation director Karen Kieffer explained that her department is in charge of several buildings and programs, including Underwood Community Centre, Tiverton Lions Hall, Whitney Crawford Community Centre, the Kincardine Arts Centre, Brucedale Community Centre, Paisley Recreation, Kincardine Pavilion, Tiverton Sports Centre, Davidson Centre, Kincardine Recreation, Parks, and the Kincardine Marina. Some are run by local groups, such as the Tiverton Lions Hall, with the proceeds split between the organization and the municipality, said Kieffer. She said the operating costs on the arts centre have been funded through the $1-million endowment fund set up for a new theatre. However, the interest on that money has diminished, as well as the original $1-million amount, leaving a $20,886 deficit for that building. Councillor Maureen Couture said she has no problem funding that amount on the tax rate, as a way to properly support arts and culture in the municipality. Councillor Randy Roppel asked if any of the arts organizations ever put on programs to fund-raise for that shortfall. Councillor Kenneth Craig said the tenants work hard at fund-raising, and hold many events. Roppel said the public should be made aware of that. "Is that revenue included in this budget?" asked Coristine. Craig said the fund-raising goes to the group's programs, not toward the maintenance of the building. Under the Tiverton Sports Centre, Kieffer said the contract with the current site operator expires this ice season. She recommended the municipality run that centre with municipal staff operating it. As for the Davidson Centre, Kieffer said the new gymnasium addition must be completed by Oct. 31, 2011, but she expects it will be done by August or September. Extra hours to maintain the entire building mean the addition of one full-time position, she said. However, she expects to hire more casual staff to fill that job and evaluate the effectiveness of that. Couture said there will be increased revenue to off-set that cost. "Staff at the Davidson Centre are busy all the time," said Kieffer. "It's the busiest place in the whole municipality." Under police services, councillor Jacqueline Faubert was joined by South Bruce OPP inspector Bill Klym. She said the municipality enjoys an excellent working relationship with the OPP, and gets above-average value for the $2.4-million it spends on policing annually. Faubert said the municipality does not have any control over increases in salary for the OPP constables. That is done at the provincial level. However, she said the municipality can lobby the provincial government to help pay for the increased salaries for OPP officers. She said eliminating the community schools officer is not a good idea. "They help youth in crisis. They are a proactive force in the local schools." The cost is equal to $12.79/household per year, she added. Council agreed to add that $35,000 cost back into the budget.
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Regarding
service levels for policing, Sergeant Dino Tsitomeneas, contract
analyst, said Kincardine has a contract with the OPP so it pays a fixed
amount, regardless of the number of calls. Other municipalities, such as Huron-Kinloss Township, are not under contract so a drastic increase in calls could affect the cost of policing there, he said. "The reduction in crime in a municipality is usually due to having the right number of officers patrolling the municipality," said Tsitomeneas. Faubert said in towns and cities with high transient populations, and high tourist populations, a fixed OPP policing level is a benefit. Under tourism, the main focus is the completion of an Integrated Sustainability Plan. Coristine said he would like to attend a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference in Halifax in June, to get first-hand knowledge of economic development, sustainability plans, and access to FCM funds. Mayor Larry Kraemer said he would also like to attend that conference, noting that the FCM has half-a-billion dollars from the federal government to hand out to municipalities. Roppel told Coristine before he and Kraemer head off to "Never Never Land," they should get some idea of how the proposed Economic Development Corporation is going to work. "We hope to find money to help answer that question," said Coristine. "We are planning a meeting with the economic development committee to outline that." Couture supported Coristine and Kraemer attending the conference. Coristine promised Roppel he would bring back an "Ever Ever" great report. Economic development and tourism manager Steve Murray said the department is working with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to bring the Downtown Revitalization Regional Conference to Kincardine this year. "Kincardine has done so much downtown revitalization over the past 10 years," he said. "There would be 80 economic development officers coming to the conference." Regarding the money in reserve for a new tourist building, Coristine suggested council review this and decide what is practical and pragmatic. It could be part of the sustainability plan. Finally, council discussed some parameters for the discussion of capital projects which runs tonight (March 28). Council had originally directed staff that there would be no new capital spending. Chief administrative officer John deRosenroll said that over the next four years, the plan is to use less money from reserves to pay the operating expenses for the municipality. Kraemer noted that if council ended budget negotiations at that point, it would have $500,000 in capital projects in the 2011 budget, which is not enough to sustain the municipality, he said. The budget, as laid out, is already using $639,000 from reserves for operating costs this year, he said. "We have to look at what it costs to do base services," said Coristine. "We have only so much money, but we can't be afraid to provide what the people want in the municipality." Kraemer said Kincardine has done some incredible capital projects over the past four years, including two additions at the Davidson Centre. However, that does not set up the municipality for sustainability. At the end of the meeting, treasurer Brenda French noted that the insurance premium has increased because the replacement value of all tangible assets has increased. Council granted pre-budget approval to go with the new premium proposed by Jardine Lloyd Thompson. The meeting ended with a moment of silence in honour of the two firefighters who were killed in the line of duty in Listowel. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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