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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2015-03-11, Page 3Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • Huron Expositor 3 Huron county council Huron County debates regional broadband scheme approves its 2015 budget Budget unveils a number of fiscal pressures, county says. Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor Huron County council has voted in favour of a two per cent hike in its general tax levy as part of approving the 2015 budget for the upper - tier municipality on March 4. County Warden Paul Gow- ing, who serves as Mayor for Morris-Turnberry, says he was pleased with the pace and outcome of the budget pro- cess, framing the two per cent hike as within the municipali- ty's target for the year. "This was the first budget deliberated by this council since taking office in Decem- ber and I was very pleased with the quality of our dis- cussions," he said in a pre- pared statement. "We met our target of keeping the county levy to a two per cent increase and passed the budget in a timely fashion:' According to the county, the budget deliberation pro- cess revealed an array of fis- cal pressures that will impact funding decisions for years to come. In a release from the upper -tier government, the county blamed what it called a "rigid provincial tax ratio structure" for placing an "increasingly large tax bur- den" on residential property owners. It also cited the ris- ing costs of "providing ser- vices to an aging popula- tion," as well as a reduction File Photo Huron County council has approved its 2015 budget. (Pictured) Huron County Courthouse in downtown Goderich. in Ontario Municipal Part- nership Funding (OMPF), for straining county coffers. "In the past month, on behalf of my fellow council- lors, I've spoken to both the Minister of Finance and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs about our concerns regarding OMPF cutbacks," Gowing said. "Rural municipalities have to work together to make the province understand our demographic and fiscal realities:' The county's operating budget for 2015 pegs reve- nue at about $92.4 million, 40 per cent of which comes from taxes and 36 per cent from provincial grants. The remaining funding sources include fees and service charges, federal grants and so-called other revenue, which includes transfers from the municipality's reserves. The capital budget for the year totals $15.7 million, rep- resenting a nearly $2 million drop from 2014. About $11 million of the capital budget is designated for public works projects. According to county administrators, the upper - tier government's guiding philosophy for the budget was ensuring "long-term sustainability while main- taining essential and valued services." The county sought to do this, they say, by controlling spending, properly manag- ing its assets, maintaining its reserves, increasing efficien- cies and maintaining "a level and realistic levy." Details of the county's budget have been summa- rized by the treasury depart- ment and are available for residents to view on the county's website at http:// www.huroncounty.ca/ financial/. PLEASE RECYCLE '6)EA Are you interested in discussing End -of -Life Care needs in Huron County? The Huron Perth Hospice Palliative Care Collaborative invites you to attend a Public Meeting March 23, 2015 7:00 — 9:00 pm Clinton Arena & Community Centre 129 Beech St, Clinton ON NOM 1L0 Moderator Mary Cardinal - Chair, Huron Perth Hospice Palliative Care Collaborative Speaker Highlights Lisa Gardner - Hospice Palliative Care Network Lead, South West LHIN Dr. Agnes Kluz - Physician at Seaforth Hospital and champion for Hospice Palliative Care Judy White - Palliative Pain & Symptom Management Consultation Program Kim Winbow and Shirley Dinsmore - Community Hospice Programs Andy Werner - Residential Hospice Stratford Perth Steering Committee County wants to see business plan before sending representative Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor Huron County council is delaying sending a representa- tive to a regional high-speed Internet committee after some members raised concerns about the absence of a busi- ness plan from the group. The Southwestern Inte- grated Fibre Technology Com- mittee (SWIFT) is petitioning Huron County for a financial commitment and to appoint a representative from council to sit on the committee. Huron Warden Paul Gow- ing, however, says council wants to first see a business plan before committing to the group, which is seeking to cre- ate a "ubiquitous, affordable and accessible regional ultra- high speed broadband regard- less of population density," according to its website. "It is not in our budget. We will consider it when we get a business plan," he told council at its March 4 meeting. According to Gowing, SWIFT is only at the stage where itis submitting requests for information to find out what kind of cable and Internet infrastructure is "already in the ground!' "There's a lot of leg work to be done here; he cautioned. County administrators say the invite represents a new direction from SWIFT but stress HURON COUNT Y that the organization behind the committee, the Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus (WOWC), hasn't really dis- closed details about what the purpose is of the committee. Gowing says he was informed at a recent meeting that Huron and Perth were the lone counties from the WOWC, which counts as members every southwestern county government from Sim- coe to Essex, to not explicitly declare their support for the SWIFT high-speed initiative. "Huron County and Perth County are really the only two that haven't put forth that we are going to support this," he said. "The other municipalities are supporting (it) in principle' Gowing says he is taken back by the fact that develop- ment of a full business plan from the group would take "at least six months" Another sticking point with SWIFT remains discussions with Internet service providers in Huron County, which Gow- ing claims "haven't moved for- ward at all:' According to a release from the WOWC, the broadband initiative could prove to be immensely beneficial to the region by allowing individuals and businesses alike to have faster and more reliable access to crucial information networks. "Small and medium sized businesses need broadband access to market their goods and services, communicate with customers and suppliers, source funding and interact with employees working from home or on the road," reads a segment from the WOWC's backgrounder on SWIFT. 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