Budget to go to public with 4% increase
Clearview Council will present a draft budget to the public on February 11, looking for feedback on a potential 9.53 per cent increase in the Township levy and an overall property tax increase of 4.02 per cent.
Those numbers stand after a third budget workshop on Monday, held theoretically so members of Council could whittle the increase down, but which instead saw more money added to the budget than taken away.
The meeting began with Treasurer Edward Henley pitching a 3.45 per cent overall tax increase, comprised of a 0.15 per cent OPP increase, a 0.61 per cent Simcoe County increase, a zero per cent School Board increase and an 8.1 per cent Township increase. To achieve that number, staff had made $352,000 worth of cuts to the budget’s first iteration, including a $75,000 reduction in the transfer to the Township’s working reserve, a $50,000 reduction in the transfer to the library reserve and deferrals of several projects, including improvements to Gowan Park ($30,000), upgrades at Avening Hall ($40,000), resurfacing of the tennis courts in Stayner’s Ives Park ($30,000) and installing new fire protection measures at the Dunedin Hall ($15,000).
Council made only two more deductions over the course of Monday’s workshop, changing the amount budgeted for the Economic Development Committee branding project from $59,000 to $50,000 and spreading an upgrade to the Township’s municipal management software over two years, reducing this year’s cost from $16,500 to $8,250.
Then, reflecting on the fact that the Township’s reserves are getting low in the face of several large expenditures on the horizon, Council agreed to add $150,000 in savings to the budget. New reserves dedicated to community hall upgrades and library expansion will receive $50,000 each, and the bridge reconstruction reserve, which was scheduled to receive $250,000 this year, will instead receive $300,000.
Council also added $10,000 to the budget to partner with Collingwood and Wasaga Beach on a pilot transportation project that could eventually result in bus service to Stayner.
In addition to the aforementioned decisions, Monday’s meeting also included a lengthy discussion about the philosophy of municipal budgetting, with Councillor Thom Paterson pushing hard for Council to take a look at the possibility of service cuts to bring the municipal levy increase down. But he couldn’t sway his colleagues in that direction.
“It doesn’t make sense for Council to get into the kind of detail needed to analyze the entire budget line by line,” said Councillor Brent Preston. “If we want service cuts, it would be better just to ask staff for a percentage decrease across the board. What’s more concerning for me is the constant deferring and underfunding. What we need is a fiscally responsible budget – and that could mean service cuts but it could also mean higher taxes and putting more money in reserves.”
With the 4.02 per cent overall increase, the average home in Clearview Township (currently assessed at $250,750) would pay $2,854.02 in taxes, an increase of $110.34 over 2012. Of that amount, $1,208.74 would go to the Township, $312.77 to the OPP, $778.36 to Simcoe County and $554.16 to the School Boards.
Every $100,000 added to the Clearview Township budget increases the Township levy by one per cent.
The next step in the 2013 Clearview budget process is a public meeting, scheduled for Monday, February 11 at 7:15 pm in the Council Chambers. Following that, Council will meet for one more workshop on Monday, March 4 to make any final changes to the budget. It’s anticipated the budget will then be passed on Monday, March 25.
Clearview Township budget documents are available online here.
