Draft operating budget calls for 2.3% rise in residential taxes
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County staff has proposed a day of celebration next June as a means of restoring and fostering a sense of community in Norfolk.
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Details of “Norfolk Community Day” are contained in the county’s draft 2022 operating budget. The initiative has an estimated cost of $ 25,000 and is proposed as an annual event.
“The global pandemic has greatly affected community events, and there is a need to connect Norfolk citizens with an event that will offer free programming and entertainment at our facilities,” finance staff says in the draft document, which was released this week.
“By June, 2022, it will be even more important to provide an opportunity to move forward with the new normal. It will be something to look forward to for our citizens and allow for an opportunity to recognize how Norfolk has been adapting over the past few years. ”
Staff suggest Norfolk Community Day could be an occasion to allow the free use of county facilities. The $ 25,000 cost, the report says, could likely be raised in the community and come at no expense to the municipality. The proposed date is June 18.
As for the budget itself, staff proposes a 3.2 per cent increase in the 2022 tax levy. Approved unchanged, the budget would generate $ 110.5 million in property tax revenue. This compares with $ 106.6 million in 2021.
Approved unchanged, the draft budget would raise taxes on a home with an assessed value of $ 240,000 by 2.3 per hundred next year, or $ 73.63 all in.
In their report on the draft budget, financial planning manager Kathryn Fanning and financial planning supervisor Chris Everets enumerate a number of factors putting upward pressure on spending.
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These include inflation arising from supply-chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a $ 1.8 million increase in county salaries and benefits, and a $ 684,200 increase in insurance costs.
“Statistics Canada has reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis in October,” Fanning and Everets say in their report.
“This is the highest rate of inflation in over 10 years. This coupled with supply-chain issues and reduced supply will continue to encourage increased prices.
“Market prices for insurance are increasing at rates much higher than most goods and services. Recent tenders indicate there could be significant pricing pressures on goods and services. ”
Earlier this year, Norfolk council relied on a temporary loan of $ 2 million from the county’s Legacy Fund to shave a couple percentage points off the 2021 increase in property taxes.
That loan was quickly repaid thanks to efficiencies and surplus funds carried over from 2020. The loan strategy is off the table in the 2022 draft budget, accounting for 1.9 percentage points of the proposed 3.2-per-cent increase in the levy.
Other highlights from the draft document include:
- OPP policing in Norfolk is expected to cost $ 13 million this year. The projected cost of the OPP contract in 2022 is slightly less at $ 12.9 million.
- The county has approved the hiring of 15 full-time individuals to help with the municipality’s COVID-19 response. Funding for this extra help at Norview Lodge in Simcoe and the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit is derived 100 per cent from the province.
- Assessment growth arising from new construction in 2021 will be worth an estimated $ 592,000 to the county treasury next year.
Norfolk’s budget committee has set aside two days next month to discuss its spending plans. The budget committee will sit Jan. 12-13, with both meetings scheduled to begin at 9 am