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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-26, Page 25THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018. PAGE 25. New budget to drastically increase Wingham taxes Continued from page 1 Jan. 1, 2018 for current officers. A full year of salaries will result in even higher taxes for Wingham ratepayers next year. Seip said he voted against keeping the Wingham Police Service because of the cost, not because of the police service, the OPP or any other issue. He said, knowing these increases were coming, he felt it wasn't feasible or sustainable. Part of the remainder of the $655,000 increase in the budget, resulting in slightly less than $1 million in increased expenditures, came from the ESTC's new budget, which was "more realistic" than the first one presented according to Director of Finance Donna White. She explained that Deputy -Chief Chad Kregar had originally presented a balanced budget based on expected income at the centre. However, after a deficit last year, Kregar adjusted his numbers to reflect only guaranteed income, showing an operational deficit of $125,096. The cost for the ESTC is spread across all of North Huron. Chief Administrative Officer Dwayne Evans explained that a pay equity study the municipality had participated in would see wages altered throughout the municipality, resulting in approximately $80,000 of new staff expenses. Council wasn't happy with the numbers being presented. The ESTC and pay equity study costs would result in 2.56 per cent and 1.64 per cent in increased spending, respectively, while the Wingham Police budget represented an 8.76 per cent increase in the municipal budget. These increases are independent of Huron County and school board taxations, which will have a further impact on taxes. White presented several different examples to explain exactly what these additional costs meant for ratepayers. The pay rate increase and ESTC expenses will be assessed against the entire municipality, while the police services increase is only paid for by Wingham ratepayers. In Blyth, a residential property assessed at $123,000 would have seen an increase of $62.29 in its taxes with the budget set at a 4.95 A perfect night The Brussels Ministerial, which is comprised of most of the community's churches, came together to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring on Sunday night with its Spring Songfest. Five church choirs performed at St. John's Anglican Church to help mark the arrival of the season. Here, the St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church Choir performed "Canticle of the Sun" and "You are the Voice". (Shawn Loughlin photo) Wilbee won't run again this fall By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East McKillop Ward Councillor Kevin Wilbee announced at council's April 17 meeting that he would not seek re-election in this fall's municipal election. Wilbee, a lawyer by trade, said that with his new job in London, it was becoming nearly impossible for him to work in London and keep up with his municipal councillor duties back in Huron County. He said he was humbled by municipal staff and his fellow councillors during his four years as a councillor and said he was "very impressed" by all of them. "I think it was an honour to be a councillor in the lead -up to the [International Plowing Match in Walton last September]," he said, adding that the experience will be one that he, and residents, will remember for years to come. He also thanked all of the McKillop residents who voted for him in 2014, saying he appreciated their support, both in the election and in the years that followed. *** Seaforth Councillor Bob Fisher would like an update on the strategic planning exercise the municipality engaged in 18 months ago with its recreation boards. He said that the local recreation boards working with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) seemed to have positive implications, but that he wanted a progress report a year - and -a -half after the fact. Fisher asked that the three recreation boards — Brussels, Seaforth and Vanastra — come and present to council in May or June. *** Changes have been made to a proposed zoning amendment for Evergreen Holsteins Inc. that drastically reduce its deficiency in regards to the Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) between its proposed new barn and neighbouring properties. The barn has been proposed to be moved and its size has also changed slightly. Planner Denise Van Amersfoort said that while the first proposal was deficient by 75 metres, the proposal has been reduced by 18 metres. That, coupled with the slight reduction in nutrient management units proposed to the barn (the new proposal is 1,319 units) has made the application more acceptable to neighbours, she said. Council approved the application. *** Council defeated a motion that would have authorized the 532 Maitland Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron out of Goderich to host Tag Day activities in Huron East April 27-29. Deputy -Mayor Joe Steffler said that it had always been an unwritten rule that cadets were not to expand into the territories of others. So, with cadets in both Brussels and Seaforth, he felt that council shouldn't support the Goderich initiative. Council agreed and defeated the motion. *** The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry notified Huron East Council of oral rabies vaccine bait distribution flights planned for the area. The letter from the ministry said that the flights were in response to four positive rabies cases that had been confirmed over the winter in Brussels, Elmira, St. Agatha and Millgrove. The flights took place on April 11- 12 and originated out of Kitchener. *** Chief Building Official Brad Dietrich issued six building permits in Huron East in March. This matched the totals for both January and February for a total of 18 permits issued so far this year. The permits carry a value of just over $L5 million, which is up slightly from the same time last year when 13 permits had been issued. per cent increase. With the addition of the ESTC and pay equity expenses, that same property will see an increase of $117.49 over the year. In East Wawanosh, the residential portion of a property valued at $69,800 would have seen a $43.82 increase. Factoring in the ESTC budget and pay equity increases, the property will now face a $75.15 increase. The agricultural portion of that property, assessed at $663,200 after an approximate 15 per cent increase in assessment, would have seen a $291.51 increase with the 4.95 per cent increased budget. With the ESTC and pay equity, that property will now being paying $365.92 more in annual taxes. While Blyth and East Wawanosh were affected, Wingham ratepayers will be the hardest hit by the new budget. A residential property assessed at $178,500, under the budget with 4.95 per cent increase in spending, would have seen an increase of $80.77. With the addition of the ESTC expenses, the pay equity and the increased Wingham Police Services, that same property will see its taxes increase $478.05, a 14 per cent increase in taxes. A commercial property in Wingham assessed at $825,000, under the budget with a 4.95 per cent increase in spending, would have saw a tax increase of $97.63. With the new expenses, that property would see a an increase of $2,123.10, an eight per cent increase in total taxes paid. The policing costs alone account for $1,618.17 of that increase. Seip said that, if this budget is passed, all of council needs to take responsibility for it. He said it wasn't fair to let the Wingham representatives bear the brunt of angry phone calls from ratepayers who will see their taxes increase significantly. He pointed out that council voted to keep the police and ratepayers said the police were to be given what they need to do the job right. Council discussed different ways to reduce the impact of the increased costs, however, as Reeve Neil Vincent pointed out at the end of the meeting, the numbers just couldn't be manipulated. "The numbers are in front of us," he said. "Doing little things isn't going to change the overall effect that much." The budget is set to be presented at council's May 7 regular council meeting. Plan to be implemented at the municipal level Continued from page 11 significant natural environmental areas and within 120 metres of provincially -significant wetlands. The plan covers construction of buildings near these natural heritage features. However, again, many of these rules on construction in the immediate vicinity of significant heritage land, she said, are already in place. If and when the county implements the plan and it then filters down to the municipalities, Van Amersfoort said that the municipality and the department will work together to see how the plan applies to local land in a way that will make sense going forward. Since Huron East just recently completed its five-year official plan review, it will be a number of years until the Natural Heritage Plan is even up for implementation there, she said. However, like she said before, many of the rules and regulations in the plan are already in place. What the plan does, she said, is put them all in one place, rather than as pieces of a number of different rules and regulations throughout the county. The plan, she said, will return to the county later in the year after the extensive public consultation process and then eventually to the lower -tier municipalities as the schedule dictates. Have Z„ you heard? The Citizen now accepts Visa, MasterCard and Debit at our Blyth location Convenient and easy to • advertise • subscribe • buy books Call or drop in to our Blyth office to make a payment today 413 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792