Central taxes start off at 6 per cent increase, Council cuts it down

Craig Bakay | Mar 02, 2022

Central Frontenac Council took its first kick at the budget can Feb. 24 with a proposed draft 2022 budget sporting a six per cent ($542,103) levy increase which translates into a tax rate increase of 4.3 per cent or $56 more for every $100,000 of assessment.

Treasurer Michael McGovern said the average property value in Central Frontenac in 2016 was $161,000 and staff had already cut more than $6 million out of the budget before presenting it to Council.

“It’s going to be a tough budget year,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “Prices are still going up and we’re starting out at 6 per cent.

“(But) people still want roads fixed (and) we have to have a real balancing act.”

Total assessment increased by $7,964,200 (0.8 per cent), or $74,895.44, assuming no tax rate change.

Total loans outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2021 are 3, 397,118 with annual debt payments of 4830,537 which compares with $2,659,447 and $606,682 in 2020, $2,841,530 and $790,606 in 2019 and $2,162,596 and $599,476 in 2018.

McGovern said the Township is at 47 per cent of its borrowing capacity as per the MMAH Annual Debt Repayment Limit but has also repeatedly said that it is at the limit he is comfortable borrowing meaning that cuts to the budget projects would be the only way to provide relief for taxpayers.

However, there seemed to be considerable desire from Council to provide said relief.

“I thought a 2.8 per cent increase was possible,” said Coun. Tom Dewey.

Of course, with public works being the largest budgetary item at around $7,000,000, that was where everything focused.

First to go was a planned Trail Head Building which was slated with a $320,000 price tag to provide washrooms and such across from the Municipal Office for those using the K & P Trail.

“The Trail Head Building is not a need,” said Public Works Manager Tyson Myers. “It’s community development.

“If you had to fundraise for something, that would be a good candidate.”

“And putting it off would buy us more time for community buy-in,” said Coun. Brent Cameron. “As well it would buy us time to find out what VIA Rail plans to do.

“We could build something just to have them tear it down.”

Myers said that cancelling the Trail Head project would likely require paying back a $96,000 grant but when it was suggested that another source of cuts might be the Matthew Street underground infrastructure project because of the perception that Sharbot Lake is getting more than other hamlets, he said: “I’d rather give back $96,000 than $400,000. Plus, the Matthew Street project contains some infrastructure that restricts what actually goes into Sharbot Lake that needs to be replaced.”

Of course roads projects came up and as expected most councillors made the case for roads in their districts like Cameron who argued for Wilkinson and Mary Moore Roads.

Myers himself argued for Crow Lake Road which he said needs work from the hamlet to the eastern boundary.

Myers also expressed concerns about Westport Road but stopped short of joining Coun. Nicki Gowdy’s plea for major work.

Myers said that Westport Road has four active sand and aggregate pits meaning that large, heavy trucks and equipment place demands on the road and while they may be able to live with it for a year or two, it’s going to need repaving.

“The most recent average daily traffic data shows the south end of Westport Road carrying over 1,100 vehicles per day in May of 2019. If even 10 per cent were vehicles from those pits, that means that in the six-month construction season, about 20,000 trucks carried about 400,000 tonnes of sand and gravel across the road.

“This is only a fraction of what those pits are licensed to export each year.”

On the revenue side, garbage bags increasing to $1.50 each are in the budget.

“We complain about people not cleaning up their yards but a lot of people are on fixed incomes,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Council finally directed staff to come back with a tax increase of three per cent or less to a special meeting March 8 to begin at 2:30 p.m. before the regular meeting of Council.