Chatham-Kent’s opening night of budget deliberations saw some action, with a few cuts dropping the proposed tax hike to approximately 5.1 per cent Tuesday.
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South Kent Coun. Anthony Ceccacci entered two successful motions to trim the increase.
The first motion involved extending the application of gravel on roads from an average of once every three years to four years. A total of $1 million in savings will be allocated to the base budget for the gravel road conversion program to help increase the number of conversions annually.
His motion also stipulated that $650,000 in savings go towards reducing the tax hike.
Ceccacci’s second motion asked that the remaining 2025 tax-funded lifecycle inflation amount, of just over $1 million, be removed from the budget.
“We are experiencing a (proposed tax) number that a lot of residents do not find palatable,” he said.
The councilor added that Chatham-Kent is looking at new assessment growth in the coming years, noting he has confidence in staff to allocate the money to infrastructure accordingly.
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“There is no appetite right now to reduce services,” Ceccacci said. “There is no appetite right now to affect any rural communities.”
Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor entered an unsuccessful motion to add nearly $1.4 million back into the budget for dust suppression, believing the service was still needed on gravel roads.
“I think that it needs to continue,” she said, admitting that every year is different for weather conditions. “I think it’s lessening our service to our rural residents.”
However, Edward Soldo, general manager of infrastructure and engineering, said from a staff perspective it was “not an effective use of dollars,” given its limited impact.
“If you look across Canada, a lot of municipalities have gone away from this,” he said. “There’s a lot of different solutions people have tried, but it just doesn’t keep the dust down.”
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“At the end of the day, we’re a rural agricultural community … You’re never going to eliminate dust.”
It is the second year of the 2024-27 budget process, which was adopted last year to assist with long-term planning.
Councilors moved to closed session for an hour and a half Tuesday to deal with several items before returning to the open meeting.
Two weeks ago, staff presented a draft budget with a 5.96 per cent proposed tax hike. This year’s initial increase was pegged at 8.17 per cent; however, some new efficiencies and a $2-million increase in Ontario Municipal Partnership funding resulted in a smaller starting figure.
Deliberations are slated to continue Wednesday in council chambers, with Thursday set aside if needed. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.
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