​Kincardine hikes bag tags by $1 to keep tax-rate increase under 7%

Kincardine council has given initial approval to its 2023 operating budget and there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that the tax-rate increase sits at 6.32 per cent. The bad news is, council has hiked the cost of garbage bag tags by $1 each.

Council met Monday night for its fourth budget meeting after asking staff, at the Jan. 25 meeting, to revisit the draft budget and bring in proposed reductions for a tax-rate increase of seven per cent.

Treasurer Roxana Baumann said council was beginning the meeting with a tax-rate increase of 11.15 per cent, due to the following updates:
 

• The Bruce County tax rate has been approved, in principle, at an increase of 7.74 per cent. This was updated on the tote board and resulted in a blended rate of 8.8 per cent.
• The equipment maintenance budget for the Leachate Treatment Facility has been reduced by $5,000 as the maintenance item has been addressed through the 2022 operational budget.
• Swimming lesson (U14) revenues have been increased by $20,000 to better reflect 2022 actuals. Actual fee revenue amounted to $153,000 and, therefore, the 2023 budget has been updated accordingly.
• The budget for councillors’ health benefits has increased by $22,143 as the previous draft did not reflect new council members who elected to receive benefits.
• The elimination of the building and planning records summer student due to an extension of the deadline for the Municipal Modernization Fund (Intake 3) from Feb. 28 to Dec. 1 (tax funded savings of $8,050). The extension of the deadline has allowed the municipality to extend the contract of two staff members, enabling them to continue digitizing records. This has also eliminated staff’s request for the records management assistant contract position.
• Capital Project Y005 MacDonald Road Crossing Improvements: Cost has increased to $120,000 from $80,000 due to a higher portion of municipal assessment from original estimates. This project is funded from the Lifecycle Reserve Fund.
• Capital Project 9653 Downtown Sound System: Cost has increased to $70,000 from $31,000, and is no longer a component of the Queen Street project, as the system cannot be installed within the light standards.

Baumann noted that the budget reductions are in response to council’s direction; they are not the staff recommendations that were in the original draft budget in December. In order to meet council’s directive, $760,000 was removed from the budget to drop the tax-rate increase by 4.1 per cent.

Council then began the tedious task of going through all the proposed reductions and determining which should stay and which should go. There were numerous items eliminated, saving $1,000 and $2,000 here and there.

A motion was approved to reduce the cost of the school resource officer by using $27,000 from the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Fund which was received in 2019.

Councillor Bill Stewart opposed this, saying council should eliminate this position entirely and save the $115,000 cost. Or the municipality should approach the school boards and determine if they believe there is a benefit, then they can cover half the cost.

Council agreed to cut one bylaw enforcement seasonal officer, saving more than $26,000.

It was also agreed to transfer $30,000 from the tax mitigation reserve into the budget.

Deputy mayor Andrea Clarke put forward a motion to increase the cost of garbage bag tags by 50 cents, making them $3 each.

However, Stewart said council needs to be bold and suggested hiking them by $1, to $3.50 each.

“We’ll likely soon need to build a new cell at the waste management centre,” he said. “We have to get more garbage recycled and less going to the landfill. It’s amazing how this will help get 40-50 per cent of garbage diverted from the landfill.”

Increasing the bag tags by $1 each equates to a 40-per-cent rate increase, and could bring in additional revenue of $160,000.

Council agreed to mothball the Ward 3 landfill in the former Bruce Township, and close the Re-use building at the waste management centre, for a total savings of $15,000.

It was also agreed to eliminate the part-time contracted help at the waste management centre, for a savings of $20,550.

A motion to eliminate the tree purchases and tree-plantings, to save $20,000, did not fly, and will remain in the budget. However, council did take $10,000 out the tree-replacement program, leaving $40,000 in the budget.

Council eliminated the horticultural student position, saving $10,982, but not the summer students needed to assist with cemetery maintenance.

Contract grass-cutting was eliminated, to save $20,000, and enhancements to the Kincardine Dog Park were cut, saving $5,000.

A motion to close the Davidson Centre pool on Sundays was defeated, as many families use the pool and there is rental use that day.

The cleaning contract at the municipal administrative centre was reduced by $20,000, and council agreed to look into a sponsorship program for municipal facilities.

Summer day camp fees were increased to bring in an extra $44,212. The new rate will be $42.87/day, up from $37.08/day.

Stewart put forward a motion to eliminate the Mysis rescue boat to save $10,000, but there was no support from council.

Council agreed to eliminate the rental of the tourist booth on Highway 21 north, at a cost savings of $15,000.

Councillor Mike Hinchberger put a motion on the floor to eliminate the physician recruitment incentives of $70,000 which was defeated. However, later in the meeting, council agreed to cover this cost and the $80,000 for the nurse practitioner, with a transfer from the contingency reserve.

Council agreed to eliminate two summer students from the strategic initiatives department, for a savings of $48,729.

With the 11-per-cent tax-rate hike shaved to 8.53 per cent, Hinchberger recommended using $250,000 from the Bruce Telecom dividend for operating expenses, but only as a one-time measure.

Baumann noted that the same thing was done for the 2022 budget. She cautioned council on using this type of revenue to offset annual operating costs.

“If you rely on this revenue, then what you’re doing is running a deficit and then topping up with this dividend,” she said, “which means your starting point for the 2024 budget is already at 1.37-per-cent, plus your three-per-cent for asset management, making it 4.37 per cent.

The tax-rate increase was whittled down to 7.16 per cent. But council wasn’t done. It agreed to pay the $155,200 for the nurse practitioner and physician recruitment out of the contingency reserve, dropping the tax-rate increase to 6.32 per cent.

This equates to an extra $132.63 on the average residential assessment of $275,000. When combined with the Bruce County levy and education tax, the overall increase is 6.07 per cent or $227.48 on the average assessment.

Council approved the $36.816-million operating budget, with the 6.32-per-cent tax-rate increase. A bylaw will come to council for final approval.