Residents of Black River-Matheson facing a hefty tax increase will have an opportunity to get a full explanation and ask questions at an upcoming public meeting.
During a special meeting on May 4, members of the township council passed a budget increase of 34.2 per cent.
The budget was passed by a 4-3 vote.
At the start of the meeting, council was presented with a budget increase of 40.5 per cent. Going line by line over operating costs, they managed to trim $312,790 from the budget.
The actual impact on ratepayers in the township will vary.
“It does not mean every property is going up by 40.5 per cent,” Clerk-Treasurer Cassandra Child told council. “It means we need $1,978,065 in increased revenues.
“Should council move forward, it is extremely important taxpayers know how they will be impacted. Many people will assume they have the worst-case scenario.”
Staff had the impact of the increase outlined, based on the forecast 40.5 per cent increase, for various classes of property. The lowest increase for a residential property owner was $58, the highest was $4,002, and the average change was $387.
These numbers will be decreased due to council’s last-minute budget cuts. However, staff requires time to provide the new figures.
One of the items cut in the budget for 2023 was $251,960 for an addition to the township office. Overall, it was a $4-million project to be paid through long-term payments. Instead, the township will budget $10,000 on a Request For Proposal to get a new estimate.
Council also decided to save a further $10,830 by keeping the township’s museum closed. It was originally closed because of the pandemic. The township will look at possibility of selling the museum.
Council also deferred $25,000 in spending to create a recreation master plan.
One of the challenges facing the municipality is its number of physical properties compared to the number of ratepayers. The population is about 2,400. But the township is responsible for about 400 km of roads, 29 bridges (including nine large culverts), eight cemeteries, four water stations, a sewer plant, three lagoons, four landfill sites, three community halls, three fire halls, 16.3 km of water and 14 km of sewer lines.
“Black River-Matheson is unique,” Child said. “We don’t just have one of something. We have multiples.”
In recent years, keeping spending down was a top priority.
“Bridges (for example), have not received attention for too long,” she said. “We are now looking at replacement rather than maintenance (for some).
“Over four years, we removed $1.7 million from reserves and forfeited $1.4 million reserve transfers.”
Ward 3 Councillor Dave Dyment voted against passing the budget. He felt public input was needed.
“What I would like to see is a public meeting prior to passing, just to explain this to the public,” he said. “Let them speak and then we’ll come back (to the budget).
“I would like to see it (the increase) a lot less.”
Mayor Doug Bender said a public meeting could be held after passing the budget.
“I just don’t think there is any real benefit in having a public meeting before passing it,” he said. “I don’t see much more left to cut.
“I would still like to schedule a public meeting as soon as possible.”
Staff felt it was important to pass the budget to work out billing.
“Once the budget is passed, there's still a lot of work for staff to do,” Child said. “It will affect cash flow and receivables at the end of the year. The longer we wait, we may not make the billing for the beginning of June.”
Councillor Keith Neal said residents would benefit from seeing all the information presented to council and liked the idea of a public meeting.
“People could actually see the presentation. The information is so valuable,” he said. “We went from 40.5 to 34 per cent, which is still high in the public's view.
“I’m in favour of a public meeting. We can prepare the budget based on what we have today and could make a motion after the public meeting. Staff could start working on the budget as we have today.
“We cut quite a bit … We are all taxpayers. This affects all of us.”
To view the agenda of the meeting, visit https://blackriver-matheson.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=379.
