Central Frontenac Cuts Budget Increase, But Debt load Continues To Rise

Jeff Green | Mar 09, 2022

The second draft version of the Central Frontenac Township budget is being presented to Council this week, and $250,000 has been trimmed, from the total, that is projected to be levied to Central Frontenac ratepayers.

The result is a 3.3% increase in the amount to be raised through taxation, an increase of almost $300,000 over last year. That increase is offset by a .83% ($75,000) in increased revenue due to newly constructed buildings and additions being taxed for the first time, reducing the impact of the budget to about 2.5% to Central Frontenac ratepayers.

In order to trim $250,000 from the budget, the main cuts were a $152,000 expenditure on a proposed trailhead building in Sharbot Lake, and $30,000 for a road needs study.

The Central Frontenac increase is similar to the increases in both South and North Frontenac for 2022, but there are some other significant differences between the overall financial picture in Central Frontenac and the other townships.

As Central Frontenac Treasurer Michael McGovern pointed out, in his first budget presentation in late February, the township is holding a debt, and both the overall debt and payments against it have been growing.

The debt reached $3.4 million by the end of 2021, and payments on debt are now $830,000 (over 9% of the money to be collected this year.) In 2018, the debt was $2.15 million and interest payments were $600,000.

Although the township is only at 47% of the amount of debt that the Province of Ontario says it can carry, Treasurer McGovern said it is not advisable to increase the debt much further.

North Frontenac is only carrying $600,000 in total debt, and South Frontenac is debt free.

Also, although the increases in all three townships are similar in 2022, the tax rate was already much higher in Central Frontenac than the others. Central Frontenac ratepayers pay almost $1,000 for every $100,000 of property assessment, and South Frontenac ratepayers pay less than $620. North Frontenac ratepayers pay about $700.

Ratepayers in each of the three townships pay identical rates for Frontenac County and education taxes, about $340 per $100,000 in assessment, which is added to the township rate to make up the total tax rate per $100,000 in assessment.

The taxes owed in 2022 for a house that is assessed at $200,000 for example, are about $2650 in Central Frontenac, $2100 in North Frontenac, and $2,000 in South Frontenac.