Council started their new term in office with a review of the township’s financial situation during a day-long meeting last month, where Director of Finance Kimberley Pope presented a preliminary draft of current budget.
In her initial draft, Ms. Pope indicated a rise in the municipality’s Operating budget of 5.8 %, which is 3% more than the rise in the CPI in the most recently available data. One third of the projected operating budget increase stems from a $100,000+ increase in the fire department budget driven by a change in the allocation of wages of the department, an increase in volunteer fire fighter compliment and call volume increases. The most significant components of the operating budget are Public Works department with a draft budget of $1,794,309 (4.9% higher), followed by the Police Services contract for $1,275,937 (2.4% higher), Protective Services at $769,103 (15% higher) and Parks and Facilities at $654,165 (3.7% higher).
The main financial challenges for the township stem from the capital portion of the budget. Net new Capital requests outlined in Ms. Pope’s draft total $6,074,118, of which $2,207,662 has designated funding through grants or specific reserves. The net capital requests requiring cash therefore comes in at $3,866,496. The most significant items contributing to that net number are a $1 million allocation to the reserve for the new Fire Hall, $850K infusion into roads and $442,689 to furniture, fixtures and equipment for the new community centre. Ms. Pope is seeking direction from Council for ways to reduce this number by $298,489 in order to limit the required municipal tax levy rate increase to the proposed 2.5% level. Among the mandatory expenditures in the capital budget is a net transfer of $1,038,900 to the municipal infrastructure reserve, a $411K outlay to replace 3 trucks in the Roads Department and the fourth payment of $257K towards the dam reconstruction project.
The budget also includes another $750,000 from the casino at Kawartha Downs, representing revenue sharing for the operations at the recently reopened facility for the budget year. This projection represents 25% of current revenue levels based on a reduction in the slot machines in place and the increased competition from the new gaming location on Crawford Drive.
There will be further budget discussions this month, followed by a Public Meeting to seek ratepayer input prior to the final approval. KG
