Frontenac County draft budget up 5% Jan 24/13

Jeff Green | Jan 17, 2013

Preliminary Frontenac County budget at 4.97% increase

Members of Frontenac County Council are spending two sessions looking at the 2013 budget.

The newly minted County Finance Committee has already met with Treasurer Marian Vanbruinessen and other members to talk about some of the items, and their recommendations are being incorporated into the draft budget that is being presented to Council.

However the two largest components of the budget, the Frontenac Paramedic Services and Fairmount Home budgets, will be presented directly to the entire council.

The draft budget calls for an increase of $396,000, or 4.97% in the levy to the lower tier townships, who will in turn collect the money from ratepayers.

$200,000 of the proposed increase stems from the decision Council made last year (2012) to keep taxes lower by depleting the working capital reserve fund by $200,000. Unless Council decides to further deplete the reserve, that $200,000 will turn into an increase in the levy for 2013.

The other major increase is in the draft levy for Fairmount Home, which is up by $91,754, an increase of 1.1%.