ACW Council closes in on 10 per cent tax levy increase in 2024 budget

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Council (ACW) met on Friday, March 15 to discuss the proposed 2024 budget. Mayor Glen McNeil started the session by stressing that the year’s first budget meeting is the most important meeting of the year, as it sets the strategic direction for the municipality.

 

The first big issue on the table was discussing a target tax levy increase for the year. Deputy-Mayor Bill Vanstone opened the conversation with the idea of a five to six per cent increase over last year as a goal. “A lot of our neighbouring municipalities are in the same boat that we’re in,” he stated. “We’ve found that fuel has gone up, gravel’s gone up - everything has gone up!”
Councillor Anita Snobelen countered with a slightly higher suggestion. “As many of the other councillors know, I’ve long been a fairly big proponent of 10 per cent, but I do feel that, with interest rates rising, and there being a financial crunch on so many families, I feel there are some people that are hurting right now, and I think that there will be a time, maybe even less than a year from now, that farmers might be hurting as well. And that’s the majority of our population, so I’m looking more at eight per cent.”
Councillor Evan Hickey said he had reviewed the budget at length before coming to his conclusion. “It’s a tough one this year. There’s certain projects I’m not real flexible on seeing go, there’s other ones that I’m ok with, but it’s the pocketbook of the taxpayers that we are looking at right now. And it’s been a tough year and I think it’s going to get tougher still, so I’m in a two to four per cent range.”

 

Councillor Jennifer Miltenberg took a different approach to her calculations. “Historically, ACW has had much lower taxes than other municipalities in Huron County. And that is due to the diligent attempts of over 20 years’ worth of previous councils to keep tax increases between zero and two per cent. And my take on taxes is that you don’t get out of them, you just defer them. And when you don’t pay them, it’s the next generation that pays,” she explained. “Our roads and bridges are being closed, and we have 72 bridges! When you keep an artificially low tax rate, you are just deferring it to the next generation.” She suggested a tax rate of 7.2 per cent as being the bare minimum, but recommended 10 to 12 per cent. “That’s the rate of inflation, which is 3.6 per cent, plus what we’re supposed to be putting in capital reserves, which is recommended to be 3.6 per cent…. So, if you want to accomplish absolutely nothing this year, it has to be 7.2 per cent.” She went on to point out that there are many projects that ACW does, in fact, want to see through this year. “If inflation goes up 3.6 per cent, we have to go up 3.6 per cent in property taxes just to stay at zero.”

 

Councillor Wayne Forster chimed in to say he was not comfortable with 10 per cent. “ I could do eight per cent,” he said.
Councillor Curtis Blake stated, “I can’t stress enough how tough times are. I’d like to see one per cent, two per cent. I think it’s completely doable. We’re going to have to start cutting.”

 

McNeil agreed with the assessment that an increase of at least seven per cent would be needed to break even, saying, “Anything less than seven per cent would be irresponsible,” a notion that was corroborated by Treasurer Ellen McManus. McManus also reminded council that there is a new asset management plan in the works, which will provide a clearer picture on the real cost of managing the municipality.

 

With ideas for possible levy increases in mind, council moved on to a discussion of proposed projects for the year, starting with an introduction by Director of Public Works Thomas McCarthy. There are three bridge repairs left over from last year’s capital projects to be considered. “These need to get done: River Mill Line bridge, Division Line bridge, and Nile Road bridge.” The major repairs for the River Mill Line bridge are currently on hold, but minor reinforcements are needed to prevent it from degrading rapidly. A new bridge design for Cransford Line was also being considered for the budget, but was labelled a “luxury project” by McCarthy and called “unwise” by McNeil.

 

Other projects being considered included the demolition of the Laurier Line bridge, resurfacing of Dungannon Road and Loyal Line, the paving of Birch Beach Road, and upgrades to municipal sheds. Debate ensued as to whether paving Birch Beach Road would be more valuable than resurfacing Dungannon Road, if only one project could be completed. Vanstone offered his opinion that Birch Beach Road is in good shape for a gravel road, while Dungannon Road is in poor shape. Hickey agreed with this assessment. McNeil put forth the possibility of removing Loyal Line from the list of projects and deferring it to next year, while Hickey preferred the possibility of doing the work on Loyal Line. 

 

McManus calculated that doing all of the proposed roads projects would result in a levy increase of 11 per cent. Pulling funds from reserves was discussed as a possible way to lower the tax rate, but it was generally agreed that reserves should only be used when necessary. In the end, council decided the resurfacing of Loyal Line would be deferred.

 

Development in Port Albert will continue this year, although council discussed extending the timeline for the multi-million-dollar project in an effort to decrease its impact on this year’s budget, specifically in regards to work to be done on Ashfield Street.
New equipment for the Roads Department was also requested. A pressure washer, a tractor grapple, a tandem plow and a grader are included on the list. The tandem plow, at a cost of $370,000, was ordered in 2022, but has now finally arrived in the municipality.

 

In a 4-3 vote, following lengthy debate and discussion, council narrowly approved raising the tax rate by 8.19 per cent over last year, resulting in a tax levy increase of 10 per cent, which will raise an additional $598,558. The decisions made at this meeting will be incorporated into the next draft of the budget to be approved by council at a later date.