Feature Article November 25, 2004
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Draft County Budget foretells tax increasesby Jeff Green
Weary ratepayers take note, 2005 is shaping up to be an expensive year. The draft budget for the County of Frontenac indicates that a significant increase in the County portion of the 2005 tax bills is more than likely.
A draft budget document was received for information purposes by the Frontenac Mayors at a meeting of County Council on November 17, months earlier than in previous years.
The budget exercise has been initiated earlier this year by the County, partly in order to aid the City of Kingston finalise its budget this fall. The funding of interrelated services between the County and the City is responsible for about half of the 19.38% increase in the County requisition from municipalities that is foreseen in the Draft budget.
However some of that increase will be mitigated by an increase in provincial grants, which will go directly to the Frontenac Townships to cover for what is called Local Services Realignment.
A complicated set of financing relationships was set up between the City of Kingston, the County of Frontenac, and all of the townships when services were downloaded by the Province of Ontario in the mid 1990s. Responsibility for Social Housing, Ontario Works and Social Housing in Kingston and throughout the County was downloaded to the City of Kingston from the province, and has been funded partly by the province, and partly through a Local Services Realignment (LSR) agreement between Kingston and Frontenac County ever since. Last year, the City claimed the LSR agreement was unfair, and negotiations between the City and the County broke down. Eventually an arbitrator was called in. A new agreement has yet to be finalised, but it will undoubtedly be more expensive to the County, and the draft budget reflects that pending increase.
Further complicating matters, the Province of Ontario rebates a certain portion of the cost of LSR Services to local municipalities through something called a Community Reinvestment Fund. According to Marian VanBruinessen, the Treasurer of the County of Frontenac, there may be an increase in the Community Reinvestment Fund Allocations to townships as a result of the increase in LSR costs.
The LSR increases account for almost half of the 19.38% increase in the Draft County budget.
Another major increase is in the budget for Fairmount Home, the recently renovated Home for the Aged owned by the County. Partly due to new Health and Safety Regulations that will come on stream in January, and partly because the Home is now larger than it was last year, the portion of Fairmount Home costs paid by Frontenac County will increase by $222,172 in 2005, an increase in excess of 50% from 2004.
Most of the cost increases at Fairmount are out of our control because they result from new provincial regulations, said Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald.
Another major source of increased costs is the Ambulance service. Costs for the ambulance service are expected to rise, and provincial subsidies are expected to drop. The County runs the ambulance service under a cost-sharing protocol with the City of Kingston and the province. County costs are expected to rise this year by 19.53% or $154,360. As well, a proposed enhancement to the system would add another $139,877.
Administration costs for the County are also slated to rise as the result of a Job Equity and Pay Equity exercise that has just be completed.
Marian VanBruinessen is quick to point out, as were the Mayors at last weeks meeting, that the draft budget is only that, and they will be looking for savings when they get down to final budget deliberations in January. Still, there are many cost increases that cannot be altered by County Council.
Last year the County levy on local tax bills totalled $303 per $100,000 of property assessment. With assessment increases expected to be flat this year, the County levy will likely rise to $330 per $100,000, or more.
