South Algonquin looks at revised 2024 draft budget

At their human resources/administration committee meeting on April 17, South Algonquin Township council looked at their revised 2024 draft budget. While a 10.8 per cent tax increase was proposed in the preliminary budget back in February at their committee meeting, this proposed tax rate had been reduced to 4.22 per cent tax increase in this revised draft budget. With the addition of a couple of programs like the St. Francis Emergency Department renovations and physician recruitment, the tax increase will likely be around 5.4 per cent. Staff will bring the budget back to council at their May 1 meeting for more discussion and likely pass it in its final form. Mayor Ethel LaValley comments on this draft budget meeting.

Jennifer Baragar, the deputy treasurer, and Bryan Martin, the CAO/clerk-treasurer, presented this revised 2024 draft budget to council at the HR/Administration meeting on April 17. It highlighted the changes made since the preliminary budget was presented back on Feb. 28. Baragar said they trimmed non-essential items without impacting services and were able to cut $168,000 from the preliminary budget by decreasing expenses and increasing revenues. “We realized a $55,000 increase in revenues, a $51,000 reduction in wages, a $58,000 reduction in supply and repair lines in the budget. This brought the tax rate down from a proposed 10.8 per cent to 4.33 per cent. Some of the notable items that were not included in the operating budget were increasing the library branch hours, the St. Francis Emergency Department redevelopment, the physician recruitment program and the Grant Proposal Writer wages,” she says.

General government in total had increased by $22,907, from $258,543 to $281,450. Protection services in total decreased by $33,470, from $648,940 to $615,470. Transportation services in total decreased by $60,985, from $1,174,570 to $1,113,585. Environmental services in total decreased $11,650, from $379,710 to $368,060. Health services in total decreased by $6,795, from $3,585 to $3,210. Social and Family services decreased by $2,485, from $693,935 to $691,450. Planning and Development services decreased by $8,310, from $37,015 to $28,705. Martin said that staff went through the budget, line by line, in a very detailed manner, to ensure that there was no fluff in the document as it relates to their operating expenses. “We don’t have any room for error this year. It’s as tight as they’re going to get it. But I’m pleased with it, the work that went into it to realize $168,000. It’s a very substantial amount of money to come out of our operating budget, given inflationary pressures and everything else. So, it wasn’t an easy task and it won’t be hard for us to slip on the wrong side of it by the end of the year if things aren’t managed very closely,” he says.

Making contributions to the reserves came up with a query about the township’s operational review, as it was not in the budget, but if council decided to do it, it could be taken from reserves and replenished next year. Baragar said that the reserves had remained relatively stable at around $2 million over the past seven years and Martin said that making these contributions to reserves is never a bad idea. “We know we have a $1 million infrastructure deficit right now. At some point, gravel will need to be put on McKenzie Lake Road and every other road in this township. And we’re going to need to repave roads. The community centres, municipal offices, and fire halls are all going to need rehabilitation. Are we meeting our requirements from a sustainability perspective in our capital asset planning? Not at this time. So any steps we make forward are good steps. The challenge is how do we manage that with fiscal constraint. And that’s what we’ve been trying to do. And if council looks to make changes to what we’re contributing, we’ll certainly do as council desires, as it relates to increasing that or otherwise,” he says.

Baragar next focused on the capital budget, which had changed from Feb. 28. One item of discussion was the township custodian’s vehicle, which was inked in at $40,000, but council subsequently decided not to do, which saved 0.3 per cent on the budget, according to Baragar. Instead, they opted to increase the custodian’s car allowance and to have him use any available public works trucks in his duties.

Baragar said they’d decreased project costs by $91,000 and projects funded by taxation had decreased by $169,000. Some items had been postponed to a later year, like the new TVs for the library, the Whitney and Madawaska ball diamond resurfacing, the Lester Smith kitchen renovation and others. She said the use of grants to fund the budget had increased slightly, while pulling from reserves had gone up by $43,000. She said that if council accepted the proposed capital budget, it would increase the tax rate by 2.43 per cent.

Baragar revealed to council that the tax rate increases with the proposed commercial waste revenue (based on a $75 per bin fee for commercial bin pickup) would be 4.22 per cent, with a residential municipal tax rate of 0.00972270, while the tax rate increase without the revenue from commercial waste collection would be 6.76 per cent, with a residential municipal tax rate of 0.00949070. The expected revenue from this commercial waste collection would be $67,500 or a 2.54 per cent tax rate. For the lesser tax hike, on a $100,000 assessment, the increase would be $949, while for the greater tax hike, on the same assessment, the increase would be $972.

While Baragar, Martin and staff recommended the 4.22 per cent tax increase, council discussed it and wanted to include the St. Francis Emergency Department renovations and the physician recruitment program, which would cost $20,000 over four years (or $5,000 per year) and about $11,500 per year, respectively. They also wanted to implement the commercial waste collection program, which would bring in revenue, but wanted to phase it in slowly, so businesses could acclimate themselves to it before the township started charging the full $75 per bin. With the additional programs added into the budget, as well as accounting for the revenue generated by the commercial waste collection program, Baragar thought the tax rate increase would be approximately 5.4 per cent, but that it would become clearer once staff had another look at the draft budget, made the revisions suggested by council, and brought back a firm percentage increase for the May 1 meeting. Council will then further discuss the budget and decide whether or not to pass it in its final form in May. The full 2024 draft budget presentation can be found at www.southalgonquin.ca under the agenda section.

LaValley told The Bancroft Times that she felt the budget meeting went well. “Good discussion. [There] will be concerned residents for sure. Not easy conversations to have,” she says. “Council will make the final decision of course, and the May meeting will surely have more discussion.”

Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Bancroft Times