Stratford’s draft 2023 budget carries proposed seven per cent levy hike

After finding more than $370,000 in savings, Stratford’s finance and labor relations committee gave its seal of approval to the city’s draft 2023 budget and its proposed seven per cent hike to the tax levy.

The 2023 budget will see more than $73 million levied from local property owners ,which, after factoring in the city’s 2022 assessment growth from new and expanded homes and business, works out to an increase in the city’s tax rate by 4.6 per cent.

“I’m an optimist about our city. … Early on in my mandate, I constantly hear positive energy from individuals in our community, residents and business and industry, etc. Not only that, in the travels that I have done representing the city, (I’ve heard) positive (feedback) from beyond our boundaries about the city. … If we’re going to continue to foster that growth to feed from that energy, we particularly need to address the human resources that work to allow that growth to take place. I know it’s a challenge when we look at the amount, but I truly see that it’s an optimistic investment in a wonderful community with so much potential,” Mayor Martin Ritsma said before the committee, which, at budget time, comprised all members of council , voted Tuesday to recommend adopting the budget.

The only councilor who didn’t support the draft budget was Coun. Cody Sebben, who argued the committee should have been willing to ask staff to further reduce the draft budget’s impact on taxpayer struggling.

“We know that even in good times there are many families and businesses and households that are struggling to make ends meet,” Sebben said. “These aren’t good times, and I feel like we need to be more diligent. So many people in our community are being diligent and we need to be as well. I believe council needs to make the difficult decisions, but nobody knows the departments like staff do. … For me, this isn’t about some things being included and some things not. For me, this is about (how) we should be more comfortable asking staff to (revisit their budgets) four, five, six times than we should be asking residents to pay a high tax levy increase.”

Though Sebben said he felt staff could find additional savings in their budgets, his colleagues stood firm in their belief the city maintain the service levels Stratford residents depend on while putting away enough money to address the city’s infrastructure renewal needs over the next decade.

The cuts identified and approved by councilors at Tuesday’s budget meeting that helped whittle the hike from 7.5 per cent to just less than seven per cent included a reduction in budgeted hydro expenses at the Stratford Rotary Complex and the Burnside Agriplex by more than $104,000 due to savings from the recent installation of LED lighting and other power-saving technology, a reduction to the maximum purchase price for eight new city vehicles by a total of $80,000, a reduction to the road operations materials budget by $30,000, a reduction to the expected cost of the city’s waste recycle contractors by roughly $100,000, and the deferral of hiring a facilities clerk-secretary for the community services department to the 2024 budget, which will save the city nearly $43,000 this year.

As with all budgets, staff warned the actual costs of all budgeted items could come in higher or lower than what is expected.

Community services director Tim Wolfe also noted the deferral of hiring a facilities clerk-secretary would hurt the city’s ability to track revenue, expenses and usage data at Stratford’s recreation facilities, which could slow down the overall implementation of a proposed sports tourism strategy. The absence of that position could also lead to a reduction in service levels for facility users due to a lack of administrative support during staff absences, Wolfe said.

Stratford’s 2023 draft budget will be presented for final consideration and adoption at a future city council meeting. Following adoption, council will also have an opportunity to consider the city’s current tax policy to determine how this year’s tax levy is shared between the various property classes.

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