TEMISKAMING SHORES – DTSSAB has passed a $40 million budget for 2023.

At its March 22 meeting held in Temiskaming Shores, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) approved a budget of $40,135,287.

The Temiskaming area municipalities will be responsible for providing $6,982,520 to support the 2023 budget. The Territories Without Municipal Organization (unincorporated townships in the Temiskaming area) will be responsible for funding $1,879,667 toward the budget.

Those shares are being offset to a degree through the withdrawal of an additional $200,000 from the DTSSAB working fund reserve which will be put toward the board’s costs for 2023, meaning less revenues will be needed from the municipalities. The resulting increase to municipalities from the 2022 levy will be 1.2 per cent, and the increase to unincorporated townships from the 2022 levy will be 2.7 per cent.

DTSSAB noted in a release that, "had the board not elected to withdraw from the working fund reserve, the municipal increase would have been 3.54 per cent."

DTSSAB chair Derek Mundle commented in the release that "the past year has been financially trying for municipalities and citizens of the Timiskaming District. These pressures were at the forefront of our minds when electing to withdraw from the working fund reserve. Delivering programs and services through effective use of available resources, in the best interest of the individuals we support, is our mission, and the Board believes that this guiding principle was upheld in this decision."

The board consists of seven appointed municipal representatives and two elected representatives from the territories without municipal representation, and brings the viewpoint of the local taxpayer and their municipality to the table and ensures that the budget is fair and responsible in delivering the services that DTSSAB has been mandated to deliver, the board said in the press release.

It explained that "significant factors in the increased budget (2.68 per cent) include provincial and federal funding for programs such as the Canada-Wide Early Learning Child Care Program, Community Paramedicine, and the Homelessness Prevention Program."

The budget includes $9,212,800 for the Ontario Works program; $13,227,289 for the children's services program; $8,033,898 (which includes $907,000 for capital expenditures) for housing services; $9,620,200 (which includes $263,500 in capital expenditures) for Emergency Medical Services; and $41,000 for the board.

The federal and provincial governments are providing $31,016,100 toward financing the 2023 DTSSAB budget, while a total of $257,000 is being withdrawn from DTSSAB reserves.

Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker