The 2024 budgets have been passed in principle. Have questions? Come to the Budget Open House on Thursday, April 4th at 6:30 pm in Council Chambers to discuss with staff. View the 2024 Budget Infographic for the overall information.
View the 2024 Budget Infographic for information on what has been approved for the 2024 budget!
At a Special Meeting of Council held on March 5, 2024, Council considered a revised 2024 Operating Budget along with potential cuts Council could consider from discretionary budget items.
After much discussion, Council adopted the 2024 Operating Budget with a 10.33 percent tax levy increase. This is a reduction from 11.34 percent, which was originally considered in January 2024. The overall notional levy increase is $593,300 for 2024.
To get to 10.33 percent, Council made difficult decisions to pause the 2024 Tree Program, reduce the Grounds Maintenance line item by $6,000, and defer two Capital items: East Pier Rehabilitation engineering (until 2025), and Port Burwell/SCC Ball Diamond works (until 2026).
The overall budget includes a $1,000,000 levy for the Guarantorship Loan Transfer Reserve, which will be used in 2025 to pay down the remaining principal left on the HMCS Ojibwa debt, which is up for renewal in March 2025. Council has established elimination of this debt item as their primary priority for this term of Council.
Council will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 6:30 pm to reconsider the 2024 Operating Budget.
Council considered the draft 2024-2025 Operating Budget last night at a Special Meeting. As Council’s top priority is to pay off the Ojibwa debt as much as possible before March 2025, the proposed budget reflected an 11.34 percent tax increase to achieve this while meeting legislative requirements and without cutting services. Council ultimately directed staff to report back with a supplementary report identifying potential areas of cost savings in discretionary service areas. A Special Meeting will be scheduled to consider the Operating Budget again in March.
As the budget was not approved last night, the January 18th Budget Open House is also postponed.
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