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Kincardine council takes second stab at budget tonight By Liz Dadson |
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 Kincardine treasurer Brenda French (L) and chief administrative officer John deRosenroll field questions about the budget | |
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Kincardine will continue its budget talks tonight, the second round of four meetings planned to discuss the finances and a service delivery review of the municipality. The first meeting Monday night (March 7), was a basic introduction to the process by chief administrative officer John deRosenroll, followed by a synopsis of the budget by treasurer Brenda French, and discussion of the department budgets for the mayor, council, CAO, clerk, treasurer and emergency services. Tonight's meeting (March 14) will focus on public works. Besides looking at this year's budget, council must look at ways to trim the operating costs for each department, said deRosenroll. Through a Four-Year Financial Recovery program, the municipality will return to financial sustainability, and stop using reserves and reserve funds to pay for operating expenses. Among the expenditure reductions proposed for Year 1 (2011) are:
Under revenue generation:
And under service delivery changes:
In Year 2, the plan calls for the elimination of paid overtime for all municipal staff, $170,520. French said the original target for the budget was a two-per-cent increase in wages, and zero per cent in supplies. No capital projects were allowed other than those for water/wastewater, completion of infrastructure projects already under way, and the creation of a new waste disposal site. The proposed budget has a 3.09-per-cent increase or $23.35 on the median residential assessment for municipal purposes only, she said. Any increases to the Bruce County levy and education tax would be added to that. Reserves and reserve funds are contributing a total of $5.157-million, said French. Of that, $2.2-million is to fund infrastructure projects and the creation of the long-term landfill development. An additional $1-million is for the purchase of a new fire truck, road and associated asset construction or studies, and another $1.4-million is for water and sewer projects. Contributions to reserves and reserve funds total $2.865-million, resulting in a net use of about $2.3-million from reserves and reserve funds. French noted this is down substantially from previous years, particularly the funds being brought in for general usage which have dropped to $200,000 in 2011, from $879,000 in 2010. During discussion, council agreed there should be a fairer formula for determining the amount contributed by the Bruce Nuclear site. Councillor Randy Roppel noted that Ontario Power Generation (OPG) pays substantially more for the plants in Darlington and Pickering than the Bruce site. Looking at the mayor and council budgets, councillor Kenneth Craig said technology can be used to reduce costs and he could see in a few years, the number of councillors around the table being reduced. Councillor Jacqueline Faubert questioned the $8,000 being spent on the municipal Christmas party as a rather large sum. Craig asked about a possible doctor appreciation day for the physicians in Kincardine. However, councillor Ron Coristine said the doctors are well-remunerated already. Bruce Power provided the wage for the physician recruiter for 2011, said deRosenroll, but that ends this year so that expense will be a challenge for the municipality next year. Mayor Larry Kraemer noted that there will likely be one doctor retiring per year over the next four years so emphasis will be put on physician recruitment and the Family Health Team in Kincardine. "Some existing doctors have a patient load of 2,000-2,500," said deputy mayor Anne Eadie, "while new doctors are taking on only 800 patients each." Regarding the elimination of planned overtime, deRosenroll said there will still be emergency overtime paid for this year. He said managers are not paid extra for attending council meetings, but take time in-lieu. He said water operators will be switching to a two-shift system in order to eliminate overtime, particularly paid time-and-a-half overtime. As for centralizing administration staff, deRosenroll said the fire department will remain at the fire station, and the recreation staff at the Davidson Centre. However, there is room at the municipal office to house another 10 desks and there would be savings found by doing that.
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 Deputy mayor Anne Eadie (L) and recreation director Karen Kieffer check out the chart for year one of the municipality's Four Year Financial Plan  A chart shows how Kincardine plans to reduce its use of reserves and reserve funds to cover the operating costs in the budget over four years In the debate about cutting community grants by half, clerk Donna MacDougall said there is a question about whether property taxes should be used for this. Enbridge also provides $50,000 per year, in matching funds for programs and projects, she said. "I'm uncomfortable with reducing community grants," said Faubert. "Many of these groups do events that are economic drivers in our community." Recreation director Karen Kieffer said the development grants go toward Kincardine Minor Sports, Tiverton Minor Sports, minor ball and the Kincardine Skating Club. Faubert suggested if half the grants are going to sports, the same should go to arts and culture. "I remember when we started this, we had 11 applications," said Craig. "Now, we have three pages of applications." "There are smarter ways to save money than cutting community grants," said Coristine. Council agreed to put $25,000 back in the budget to fund community grants at a total of $50,000. The major ticket item for the fire department, already approved by council, is the new fire truck, at a cost of $439,617, plus $250,000 into reserves for another truck for the Tiverton station next year. Craig said he would not support the $250,000 into reserves, but possibly a smaller amount. Fire chief Jamie MacKinnon noted that the Tiverton pumper is a 1989 truck, meaning it is past the 20-year due date for replacement. In treasury, French said overtime is required at tax time and during the audit. Coristine said council needs the capital report and the audit of the financial statements in order to draw up a proper budget for 2011. Both the 2009 and 2010 audited financial statements have yet to be completed and presented to council. Councillor Mike Leggett said an extra person was hired two years ago to help with the Public Sector Accounting Board work (listing the tangible assets of the municipality). "Nowhere do I see where a person has been removed from that department now that the work is done," he said. "That person will be taking on a floating position," said French. "If a floater is available to pick up the slack, I don't see the need for any overtime," said Leggett. Budget talks continue tonight. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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