The Citizen, 2012-05-10, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, May 10, 2012
Volume 28 No. 19
ART SHOW - Pg. 23Artists wanted forannual Blyth show FIRE - Pg. 24Grey Fire Departmentapproved for tankerAUBURN- Pg. 13Village-wide yard sale asuccess once againPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Taxes to rise 1 per cent in Central Huron
Date set
for fire
meeting
Bearing down on the cattle
Austin Ryd, right, and Jack Hicks were part of a three-person team in the Southern Ontario Cattle Sorting Association’s first
competition of 2012 on May 5 at the Turkey Run Ranch at RR5, Brussels. Ryd and Hicks were both bearing down on the last of
seven cattle that needed to be sorted by numerical order during the competition. (Denny Scott photo).
Central Huron approved its budget
on Monday night, settling on a one
per cent overall tax increase for the
residents of the municipality.
However, with the difference
between a two per cent increase and
no increase simply being the amount
dedicated to reserves, there were
some councillors lobbying for no
increase.
With Huron County and education
taxation rates decreasing by over
four per cent each, to achieve a zero
per cent overall tax increase, Central
Huron would still increase its
portion of the levy by nearly six per
cent.
With the municipality being in
such a position, Councillor Alex
Westerhout originally said he
couldn’t support anything over a
zero per cent increase, but eventually
settled on a one per cent overall
increase.
A one per cent overall increase
represents an 8.36 per cent increase
to the Central Huron portion of the
budget. For a house with an average
assessment of $100,000, this
represents an increase of $14.06 this
year.
As several councillors pointed out
Monday night, assessment has also
climbed by nearly five per cent this
year, which is another increase of
funds coming to the municipality
worth factoring in.
Treasurer Terri Taylor initially
presented the budget with a two per
cent overall increase, a 10.75 per
cent increase to the municipal
portion of the budget, that would
have added over $688,000 to the
municipality’s reserves.
With the decided-upon increase of
one per cent overall, the contribution
to the municipality’s general
reserves will be $576,820. Taylor
asked councillors to keep in mind
that $245,000 of that money is
already ‘spoken for’ and that council
is withdrawing $280,000 from
reserves this year.
“The question is what we’re
spending and what we want to put
into reserves,” Mayor Jim Ginn said.
“[The municipality’s reserves] aren’t
as high as they used to be.
“It becomes a question of how fast
do you want to rebuild the reserves.”
Councillor Alison Lobb said she
still supported a two per cent
increase.
Councillor Burkhard Metzger said
this was a perfect year to raise that
amount of money because the other
two levies in the area decreased. If
council wants to raise taxes again
next year, he said, they may not be
able to if the other two levies are too
high.
“We are in a unique situation this
year,” he said. “Next year we may
not be able to do a zero per cent
increase.”
He admitted that a 10 per cent
increase looked high, but when
looking at the consolidated increase,
it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
Ginn said that in the past, Central
Huron has been lucky to have the
reserves it has had. Without
sufficient reserves, he said, there is
no way council would have been
able to take advantage of federal and
provincial grants to build the new
fire hall, for example.
“We have wonderful things to
show for it,” Ginn said.
Ginn said he was in favour of
building up the reserves because of
the uncertainty surrounding the Slots
at Clinton Raceway. Although
council has been told that the
operation should remain in the short
term, members have said they still
have some long-term concerns.
Councillor Marg Anderson made
the motion to accept a one per cent
increase. She said she felt it was a
compromise between a two per cent
increase and no increase at all and
felt it was reasonable for those who
may have to pinch pennies this year.
“People in the municipality are
having a tough time,” Anderson said.
After the budget was passed
Taylor said the budget would be
posted on the municipality’s website
shortly.
The public meeting to discuss a
new Morris-Turnberry fire service
will be held May 24 in Wingham.
The Knights of Columbus Hall at
the Wescast Centre will be the site of
the meeting.
Members of the public will have
an opportunity to make
presentations at the meeting but to
do so must register with the Morris-
Turnberry Muncipal office by May
17. Public comments are welcomed
at the meeting at 7 p.m.
The Morris-Turnberry proposal
calls for establishment of a fire
service beginning Jan. 1, 2014,
replacing most of the coverage now
provided by the Fire Department of
North Huron. A fire station in
Belgrave would serve the central
portion of Morris Ward while a
second station in Lower Town
Wingham, at the north of Wingham,
would cover most of Turnberry
Ward.
The Brussels station of the Huron
East Fire Department would still
serve the eastern part of Morris
while the Blyth station of the Fire
Department of North Huron would
serve the south end of Morris.
At the May 24 meeting council
will also be seeking volunteers to
man the two fire stations. Training
will begin soon to have firefighters
fully trained by the 2014 start date.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
M-T Council sets waste rates
After much debate, even up to the
moment of voting, Morris-Turnberry
councillors have set the charges for
automated waste pick-up.
The new service, using large
containers on wheels, is set to come
into use in the municipality this fall
through Bluewater Recycling
Association. In the end, councillors
decided each home would be
charged $120 a year. For urban
residences, that fee will cover
weekly collection of a large
recycling container, holding the
equivalent of six garbage bags, and a
small garbage bin, holding two bags
worth of garbage.
For those in rural areas, pick up
will be every other week but because
a homeowner is likely to collect
more garbage in that time, each
home will receive a medium garbage
bin, holding the equivalent of four
bags of garbage. Rural residents will
also have the option not to have any
garbage collection, though they’ll
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
Continued on page 20