|
Township looking at 4.7% tax hike this year By Liz Dadson |
Huron-Kinloss council To Comment on this article Click Here |
|||
|
Huron-Kinloss council is looking at a potential 4.7-per-cent tax hike this year. That's after a preliminary six-hour budget session Tuesday morning and afternoon (Feb. 22). Treasurer Jodi MacArthur told council that the township ended 2010 with a $111,068.38 surplus. A mid-year policing reconciliation was introduced last year and the township received a credit for the first six months of $37,849. Any remaining credit from the year-end will be applied as revenue in the 2011 budget, she said. Three projects were not completed in 2010 so the funds raised must go into a reserve for 2011, said MacArthur. These include Lewis Trail Development, $5,000; Point Clark Lighthouse Museum Displays, $2,400; and promotion and development, $5,000. MacArthur then went through the proposed 2011 draft budget, pointing out the surplus and deficit for operating expenses and for capital projects. She said the $5.1-million operating budget basically remains the same for this year, so she asked council to focus on the proposed $2.7-million capital budget for any changes. The major part of the capital budget is for water and sewer work. Public works director Hugh Nichol said staff will continue the Environmental Assessment process for a new water tower in Lucknow and a new well, pumphouse and water storage facility in Ripley. His department is also replacing watermain on Havelock Street in Lucknow as part of the road reconstruction work this year. Administrator Mary Rose Walden said the Havelock watermain project is estimated to cost $350,000 for the six blocks. The tender was closing Wednesday (Feb. 23) and staff would have the information ready for the March 7 general committee meeting, she said. There is about $86,000 in the Lucknow watermain reserve and staff is proposing to use the Westario Power investment (more than $370,000) to pay for the project. Next year, the work continues on Havelock for three blocks ($230,000) and in 2013, Outram Street ($75,000) which may have to be delayed if there is not enough in the reserve. Walden said the township may have to borrow money to complete the proposed new well, pumphouse and storage project in Ripley. Councillor Jim Hanna said he doesn't like leaving a quarter-of-a-million-dollar deficit for the next council in 2014. Walden noted that the Lucknow sewer rates already increased significantly, to $290/year from $190/year per household. "We can't increase rates and taxes all in one year," she said. "We'd have a deficit, but we'd be handing the next council a new water tower and a superior water system." Councillor Don Murray suggested increasing rates by $10/year for five years and that would reduce the deficit to $100,000. Staff will consider that option. Nichol said the new Lucknow water tower could be put on the same location as the current one. The only other option, he said, is the soccer fields which is about the same elevation and the land is owned by the township. The proposal is for an elevated tank, not a silo, which would be one-third higher than the current tower. The only other major road work is paving two kilometres of the Huron-Kincardine boundary road east of Bruce County Road 7, north of Ripley, at a cost of about $200,000. Nichol said that's the worst section of road in the township and needs to be fixed. He said the Municipality of Kincardine is not doing any capital projects this year but could get pre-budget approval for its share of this roadwork for the 2012 budget. Other road work includes the 4th Concession from Highway 21 to Lake Range Drive. However, mayor Mitch Twolan suggested doing Lake Range Drive between the 2nd and 4th Concessions which is in worse shape. He is also concerned about fixing the 4th Concession before finding out for sure if there are going to be wind turbines installed there. Twolan brought up the issue of bike lanes along Lake Range Drive, but council agreed it's too costly for now. As for equipment, council agreed to allow Nichol $800,000 over four years so he can wheel-and-deal for the best opportunities to replace the machinery used in the township.
|
 "I agree with that
idea," said Hanna. "Then we can get the best deal - you spend it all in
one year or part of it each year. It's the same as setting aside
$200,000/year.""We could save $10,000 to $20,000 with a group purchase of multiple units," said Twolan. Council looked at proposed water extensions in Lucknow and considered extending the servicing on Bob Street and at the corner of Rose and Victoria Streets in Lucknow. Staff recommended the township pay for the extensions and recover the costs when individual properties connect to the services through lot charges and connection fees. However, council was concerned that could set a precedent for the entire municipality. It was agreed for staff to do the Certificate of Approval application and see what happens later. Ripley fire chief Doug Martyn was on hand to go over his budget, noting the need for $30,000 in reserves for future replacement of a fire truck, and the need for uniforms, bunker gear and air bags. Council later pulled $20,000 out of the fire department budget, and said Martyn would have to decide what is needed most, air bags or uniforms. The Lucknow fire chief said air bags are not needed, and his firefighters just wear white shirts and ties, not uniforms. Parks and recreation director Mike Fair said the prime directive for this year is to eradicate phragmites along the lakeshore. Then he can concentrate on dune restoration. As for the Point Clark Lighthouse, Parks Canada is supposed to begin work to fix up the structure this spring, said Fair. It's possible the tower could be open for three to four weeks this summer, but Fair still needs to hire students to run the museum displays in the building beside the lighthouse. Council supported the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority budget with a 5.6-per-cent increase. Hanna said he would have been fine with an even larger increase in order to keep in the budget the equipment required to do digital mapping. That new system would make the information more readily available to the public, he said. However, the agency relied heavily on reserves to pay for the move of its administration office to Formosa, so it dispensed with the digital mapping equipment. Council also discussed a proposed Integrated Community Sustainability Plan which staff would proceed with, provided 50-per-cent funding can be obtained. Cost of the plan would be about $75,000. The township used a six-year capital plan forecast, running from 2010-2016, for all departments, as a guide for proposed capital projects for 2011. And finally, council debated the concerns brought forward by the Lucknow and District Chamber of Commerce, regarding beautification of the village this year. Council will continue to provide $2,000 for the tourism office in Lucknow, $1,800 for beautification and $500 for miscellaneous expenses, as well as maintain the land around the current entrance signs. Staff will now take the changes made by council and put together a draft budget with more information regarding assessment growth and the effect on an average residential assessment. The draft budget will come forward at another budget meeting in late March or early April. Last year, the township approved a five-per-cent increase in taxes. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
|
|||
|
 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Wednesday, February 23, 2011 |
