2.39% Proposed Increase for North Frontenac Local Budget

Jonas Bonnetta | Feb 03, 2017

Council worked through their 2017 budget on Thursday last week and ended up with a 2.39% increase in dollars to be raised through taxation, or $134,331.

Major increases were seen in the creation of a winter road maintenance reserve fund for $50,000, the rising OPP policing costs at $175,225, and an increase in fire costs at $49,608.

The fire budget saw increases in consulting and training fees as well as a $15,350 increase in the dry hydrant program and a $6,800 increase in building maintenance for the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Hall.

This increase led Council into a discussion on the efficiency of the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Hall and a frustrated Mayor Ron Higgins requesting a review of the joint Kaladar-Barrie Fire Hall agreement.

“I'd like to review the agreement plus other options,” Mayor Higgins said. “I'm getting tired of this agreement.”

“The other option would be to consider separating and doing away with the agreement,” Councillor Dennis Bedard said.

There was an increase in the waste management budget at $13,448, which included increases in casual labour as well as $14,000 for the creation of a re-use centre, built out of two shipping containers, at the 506 waste site. These waste budget increases were partially offset by an increase in user fees and a decrease in consulting and maintenance fees for 2017.

Changes to the road budget ($110,423) came in increases to gravel roads, rising fuel costs, and the $50,000 being set aside for a winter maintenance reserve fund.

The decision to install an accessible playground to replace the old one at the Cloyne ball diamond was delayed with plans to be re-evaluated later in the year. This playground was estimated at $65,500.

The Municipality has a 20% decrease in their 2017 insurance costs thanks to a joint RFP they did in 2016 with Central Frontenac and their payroll is up 3.73%.

Potential Changes to Tipping Fees
Council have given authorization to Jim Phillips, the Public Works Manager, to draft a new waste disposal by-law and present the changes in a public meeting for feedback.

Phillips initial proposal includes increases in tipping fees for fridges, freezers, mattresses, sofas, and other household items as well as changes to how the bag tag incentive works.

Currently, North Frontenac residents receive free bag tags for bringing in more recycling than garbage bags and they're using them to pay for other items like bulky waste and construction garbage.

Phillips estimates the Township pays between $10,000 and $12,000 to Kimco, a waste removal company, to haul away waste that is covered by these free bag tags.

The proposal Phillips is making would prevent residents from being able to pay for bulky items or construction garbage with the free bag tags.

Canonto Lake Denied Dock Funding
The Canonto Lake Property Owners Association made a request to Council for $2500 to cover expenses related to constructing a floating dock on the lake.

Council denied the funding proposal reasoning that the dock would only be reachable by boat and therefore not accessible by constituents.

“When we spend public tax dollars it needs to be accessible by the general public,” Mayor Ron Higgins said.

Council to consider funding renovation of township office through reserves, 25 year loan
The good news is that the renovation project to bring the township office in line with health and safety standards and improve its functionality will cost just a hair over a million dollars. That is less than anticipated. The bad news is that the township needs to raise a million dollars to complete the project and only has about $50,000 set aside. The township did not receive any grant support from the project, applications to the Trillium Foundation and the Canada 150 infrastructure fund were both unsuccessful. At their regular meeting on Friday council will consider a staff recommendation to allocate $250,000 from an annual provincial grant, the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, to the project instead of spending that money on Road 506. Road 506 improvements will go ahead, however, funded by draining some federal gas tax rebate money. This will leave the township with $700,000 to raise through a loan, and staff are recommending a 25 year diminishing payment loan from Infrastructure Ontario. This will cost over $50,000 in the first year and a little less every year until the final payment of $28,000 in 2042.

At that same meeting council will be considering a recommendation by the Mayor to combine wards 2 and 3 (Palmerston Canonto and Clarendon and Miller) for the next election, thus cutting council from 7 to 5 members.