Lambton County is proposing closing the door again on new grants to community organizations as it faces a challenging budget in 2025.
Lambton County is proposing closing the door again on new grants to community organizations as it faces a challenging budget in 2025.
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A moratorium in place since 2021 on new grants at budget time will continue in 2025, if a motion passed Wednesday by county council sitting as committee of the whole is adopted at the next regular council meeting in October.
Until the moratorium, local hospitals, Lambton College and other local organizations could request county funding for capital projects and had the opportunity to send representatives to a council meeting before the budget session to make their case.
Lambton’s budget this year totaled $284 million and raised the county portion of property taxes by 5.5 per cent.
The county, which provides a long list of services to its 11 member municipalities, is projecting a $550,000 deficit this year and recently noted its debt load is growing.
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“Cost containment is extremely important as the county anticipates budgetary challenges in 2025 and beyond,” the county’s finance office says in a report recommending the moratorium continue.
Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley wasn’t able to convince councilors Wednesday to drop the moratorium for the upcoming budget.
“I think we should give the opportunity for the public to at least come and be heard,” he said. “We don’t have to approve it, but I think we should give them that opportunity.”
Loosley added, “We’re not in dire straits.”
The county’s debt is “escalating upward in a rapid fashion,” and is set to reach about 50 per cent of the “provincial threshold” for Lambton, said county chief administrator Stephane Thiffeault
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Lambton had cut its total debt from $31.5 million in 2012 to $14.6 million by the start of this year but county council has authorized $29.5 million in additional borrowing that could take the debt to $44.1 million.
Larry Palarchio, the county’s general manager for finance, said the recent additional borrowing was for “smart investments,” including to help purchase the downtown Sarnia building that is home to the Lambton Shared Services Centre.
That’s purchase is expected to save the county millions over the long-term, he said.
“We also addressed some significant needs across the community, such as affordable housing,” Palarchio said.
Thiffeault added county staff believe Lambton’s $57.4 million in reserves “is low given the assets this corporation has,” and are recommending council increase the amount added to reserves in upcoming budgets.
Even with the moratorium, the county expects to spend $3.5 million in 2025 on existing grants to the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership, Tourism Sarnia-Lambton, the Lambton Community Development Corp. which owns the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, and $105,000 for the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital Foundation.
The hospital grant will be the eighth installment a 10-year funding pledge by the county.
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