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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-26, Page 21THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015. PAGE 21. The municipality of Morris- Turnberry approved its budget during its March 17 meeting, however exact tax figures are still unavailable. Morris-Turnberry staff finished the final edits on the budget last month, however announcing how it will affect taxes has been delayed due the education rate not being announced yet. Administrator Clerk-Treasurer Nancy Michie said that she had received preliminary numbers for the education portion of the tax calculation, but wasn’t comfortable sharing them in open session until she had been told they were accurate. Michie did, however, state that it was lower than the 2014 rate. The total tax rate increase is 2.5 per cent which includes a municipal increase of 7.25 per cent, a county tax rate decrease of 3.28 per cent and a forecast zero per cent increase for the education rate. “A residential property assessed at $100,000 will see taxes of $1,578.31, or an increase of $41.55 over the year,” Michie explained. Councillor Jim Nelemans asked if Michie had any idea when the education rate would be set, and she said she had received no timeline for it. Mayor Paul Gowing asked when the information has historically been availbe and Michie said that this year is much later than normal, adding the education levy had come through on Jan. 22 in 2014. Deputy-Reeve Jamie Heffer wanted to remind council that just because council is one member short, due to changing deputy-reeve from an at-large position to one taken from the body of six councillors, council shouldn’t stop trying to keep remuneration costs down. “We adjusted the budget according to [the deputy-reeve change],” he said. “However, I want to make council aware that we do need to be diligent to keep those council expenses in check. I realize that, just the last few months, with new council members, training and all that can go up and eat up more meeting time but from the way expenses are coming in, we need to try and stick to the budget.” The budget was passed, but opposed by Councillor Dorothy Kelly. Later in the meeting council made two decisions that maintained the expenses of the budget. The first was a request from Michie to allow the hiring of a third student for the summer to help with office work as well as going door-to- door throughout the municipality to encourage ratepayers to sign up for the Huron Ready emergency information system. The system, which automatically calls residents who sign up, can advise people in specific areas of problems such as floods, boil water advisories and extreme weather conditions. The student, if hired, would also be shared with the Public Works Department and would be a welcome addition to the municipal workforce according to Director of Public Works Gary Pipe. Despite Michie agreeing that the third student could be part-time instead of full-time, council was still against the idea, starting with Nelemans. “I’m opposed to this,” he said. “Maybe a student isn’t that much money, but I’m against it. We’re trying to cut the bills.” Councillors John Smuck and Sharen Zinn agreed, both citing keeping the budget low as their reasoning. Council voted to keep the two students that the municipality typically hires and not hire a third. The second item was the approval of a 2.5 per cent remuneration increase for council members. While Councillor Dorothy Kelly suggested a one per cent increase, other councillors felt that 2.5, which is close to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase, fit them better. “If you look at the county’s wages, and look at the work we have to do, I think 2.5 per cent is fair,” Nelemans said. He also thought that tying the increase to the CPI was a good move. “I think that [following the CPI increase] is a good program,” Nelemans said. “We don’t want a council coming in and having to raise it 10 per cent at once to get on par with other councils.” Smuck said he had no problem with approving the 2.5 increase but said that council needs to try and cut down on any unnecessary meetings they attend. “There have been some issues and some meetings where people should not have got paid for what they went to,” he said. “I think we need to look at the meetings we go to.” Council members approved a 2.5 per cent increase in their remuneration including honorariums and per-meeting pay. 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