The Citizen, 2010-03-25, Page 21THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010. PAGE 21.
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Discussion continues on Huron East taxesHuron East council continued tochip away at its 2010 draft budgetlast week at its March 16 meeting.
Despite the claim that council
should consider at least a 7.8 per
cent increase on the general tax
levy by treasurer Brad Knight to
cover funding that has been cut by
the government (the Ontario
Municipal Partnership Fund -
OMPF), in the amount of
$153,500, not all councillors were
convinced.
Mayor Joe Seili, however, says
such an increase is not necessarily
required. He said that because the
funding has been cut by the
provincial government,
downloading the loss onto the
taxpayers isn’t fair and it makes
Huron East look like the bad guys.
Seili, who has already announced
his intentions to retire from active
politics this fall when municipal
elections come around once again,
has warned councillors that in an
attempt to cover for the higher
levels of government, they might
hurt themselves in the upcoming
election.
“You can’t raise the taxes that
high,” Seili said. “All you’re going
to do is make the provincial
government and the federal
government look good and you’ll
get the axe in September. I don’t
have to worry about it.”
Deputy-mayor Bernie
MacLellan, however, who initially
proposed a 10 per cent increase to
the tax levy, said that after years of
minimal tax increases, this wouldbe the year for a large increasebecause Huron County and schoolboard taxes were minimal in 2010.“I think we’ve nickel and dimedourselves to death,” MacLellan
said. “If there was ever a year
where the school board and Huron
County weren’t gouging us, this is
it.”
With an eight per cent increase,
which is the minimum that has
been suggested by Knight, the
bottom line on a Huron East tax bill
should go up between 2.5 and three
per cent on an average assessment,
Knight said. He made sure to
reiterate that the increase being
discussed by council would be an
increase in just the municipal
division of the budget.
MacLellan said that while
councillors sit around the budget
table every spring and leave
projects out that need to be done,
Huron East’s taxes remain some of
the lowest in Huron County.
“At the same time here, we need
enough money to run this
operation,” he said. “I think right
now a 10 per cent increase is the
most responsible thing we can do.”
Seili disagreed with the “knee-
jerk” reaction of a 10 per cent
increase though. In just several
minutes of revision to the budget,
Seili and Knight had trimmed over
$50,000 from the budget and they
hadn’t even finished making cuts.
Seili said that if such large cuts
can be made from other
departments in that short of time,
without compromising the services
Huron East provides, jumping to
the conclusion of a 10 per cent taxincrease would be an irresponsibleaction for council to take.Some people, however, felt thatthe budget process was being donebackwards. With the cuts made to
the budget and the deficit projected
to be covered, Huron East council
was debating a tax increase they
hadn’t decided how they wanted
spent yet, says councillor David
Blaney.
“We shouldn’t be raising taxes
and then deciding what to do withthem,” he said. “We see what wehave to do. We need to decide whatwe’re going to do and then figureout how to pay for it. I don’t wantto see us start going backwards.”
A motion was then made that a
10 per cent tax increase be
implemented into the draft budget
for council’s next meeting for
discussion. However, that motion
was voted down in a recorded vote
that saw only two councillors vote
in favour of implementing theincrease in the next draft of thebudget.After the motion was voteddown, however, Knight was givendirection to implement the
reductions that had been made over
the course of the meeting, as well
as the discussed adjustments, and
come back to council with an
updated budget for discussion at
the April 6 meeting.
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Big spenders
Large contributions were made to the Brussels Optimist Club at their annual dinner and
auction on Saturday night for upgrades to the Brussels baseball diamond. From left: Ken
Higgins and Doug Shaw, representing Brussels Tigers fastball, which donated $5,000; Mike
Thomas representing Men’s slo-pitch and hockey, which donated $5,000; Chad Fischer,
president of the Brussels Optimists and David Stephenson, representing Brussels Oldtimers
hockey, which donated $500. Absent were Brian and Brenda TenPas of the TenPas Decor
Centre, who donated $1,000. (Vicky Bremner photo)