Feature Article November 25, 2004
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Cottage associations seek cuts in NF budget.by Jeff Green
At a public meeting in Plevna, representatives of a newly formed coalition of lake associations in North Frontenac listened for an hour as council committee chairs and the Mayor outlined their spending requirements and priorities for 2005.
These included a report by Mayor Maguire concerning the draft County budget (see Draft County Budget foretells tax increases"), as well as a reference to a proposal for building a new fire hall for the Clar-Mill fire department. Pending road maintenance increases, which will come about in 2006 when a provincial grant that covers maintenance on Roads 506/509 lapses, were also discussed.
Then Bill Zerter of the Kashwakamak Lake Association presented a written budget proposal that has been prepared by the new coalition. It calls for the township to return its own tax requirements to 2003 levels, reversing an increase of about $375,000 in 2004.
According to Zerter, the approach taken by the coalition of cottage associations towards budgeting differs from the approach taken by the township because it starts with revenue, and then determines how to spend that revenue. The process that has been followed by North Frontenac, and all other local townships, has been to look at spending requirements, then come up with a level of taxation. The process then continues by cutting less important expenditures until the Council feels they have reached a balance between service levels and taxation increases.
The key to this approach is to define what is available to spend and then build the detailed expenditures from these criteria, Zerter said. He also pointed out that this is the approach taken by several not-for-profit corporations that I am involved with.
The major source of these proposed savings lies in the road construction budgets for all three wards, which total almost $900,000.
Zerter explained, in a subsequent interview, that the roads budget is the largest in the budget, and the potential for savings is thus greater than anywhere else.
Our proposals are really questions. We would like to see Council separate out operating expenses from project spending. If the budget can show these two parts: ongoing necessary maintenance, and additional projects, it would be useful, Zerter said.
Earlier in the public meeting, Councillor Bud Clayton, the chair of the transportation committee, said that he thinks road construction will abate in 2005 and increased attention will be paid to maintenance on our gravel roads. Clayton also talked about the mandated costs of closing the Ompah dump, $85,000 plus $5,000 per year for ten years.
It was noted by Bill Zerter that the average tax increase for the people represented by the coalition of Cottage Associations has been 20% for the past couple of years, even though the tax rate has been flat, and the feeling is that market value assessment has placed the tax burden unfairly onto seasonal residents.
Councillor Bud Clayton said, Im a seasonal resident myself, except I live here year round.
Councillor Will Cybulski was attending the meeting just 10 days after undergoing surgery. He pointed out that he is a waterfront resident, and has seen his property assessment, and tax burden, increase in the past couple of years, and said, Dont forget, when we pass the budget, were taxing ourselves at the same time. But we have to look at the long term needs of the township at all times.
At the beginning of the meeting, Treasurer Cheryl Robson reported that property assessment increases, which were estimated at $43 million last year, would drop to $1.3 million in 2005, so expenditure increases by the township will be directly reflected in the tax rate next year.
