Hub Staff
Councillors and Town of Saugeen Shores staff spent a day in council chambers November 15 hashing out the draft version of the Municipal Operating Budget.
After hours of deliberation and number crunching the final draft numbers were equal to the numbers that started the day. The final tally is an increase to the tax levy of 4.01 percent, which includes county and education rates. In an average household ($282,000) that equates to approximately $117. On the municipal portion of the taxes, which excludes the county and education rates, residents could see an increase of approximately $74.
Areas included in Municipal Operating Budget were: Revenue, Governance, Corporate and Administration, Fire and Police Services, Development Services, Engineering and Public Works, Community Services, Faculties and Parks and Recreation, as well as Service Level Enhancements.
The donations and other requests portion of the day saw councillors philanthropic side. The asks for financial contributions to the Southampton Tennis Club ($20,000), Crime Stoppers ($5,000), Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce ($14,000), Saugeen Shores 150th Committee ($65,000) all received council’s approval in principal. The operational side of both planned Southampton and Port Elgin splash pads were moved to Capital Budget talks slated for December 6.
Creative thinking by Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau and other town councillors saw the approval in principle of service level enchantment requests, resulting in two jobs created for the municipality.
Beach grooming, building conditions assessments, software requests, economic development initiatives, waste management and storm water master plans all saw approval.
A contract GIS (Geographic Information Systems) position was converted to full-time. Community Services requested an additional full-time staff member to assist with a variety of projects from grass cutting, garbage collection and a variety of in-house projects. Council decided to create a seven month position to assist crews during the shoulder seasons, saving $26,000.
Charbonneau explained how council approved the additional items without barring additional increases to the tax levy. “Within the operating budget there were reserved transfers budgeted, a large number of them amounting to somewhere in the $190,000 range. We decided to not transfer $88,000 of that into reserve, therefore save that money from the tax levy. That added up to $114,000 which fully off-set the proposed tax levy increases for the list of additional items (service level requests) that wasn't already in the budget.”
While presenting the Saugeen Shores Fire Department’s budget, Chief Phil Eagleson said there was an increase in fire calls. Their busiest year was 2015, with 217 calls and he said that the department was “on track to do more.”
Eagleson said they need to recruit more volunteer firefighters as he expects a handful of his firefighters to retire in 2017. He also asked for an additional $1,500 to the wellness program to help firefighters who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Responding to Councillor Mike Myatt’s query, Eagleson said the compensation for an hour-long call was $28.75, which Myatt believed to be too low for their service and requested a higher amount be paid.
Police Chief Dan Rivett informed council that a Community Policing Partnership Grant, worth $30,000, may come to an end in 2017; as well as the 1,000 Officers Grant, which is worth $35,000.
Rivett said the police force’s biggest challenge is an influx of crystal methamphetamine in the community and requested that more staff time be devoted to the drug. He also said there was a $30,000 “one time blip” on the budget through legal fees regarding a personnel issue.
Manager of Development Services, Bart Toby, said there needs to be an updated Site Plan Control By-law and suggested that a consultant go through the process. Toby stated that in 2017 building permits will increase and that will possibly put pressure on existing staff. He expects $40 million in construction to have occurred in 2016, which is up from $30 million in 2015. Development Services has not dipped into its $10,000 for legal fees and councillors made a recommendation to carry it forward and double the legal fees to $20,000 for 2017. Council also suggested the recommendation come back to them at a later date.
The Public Works Department are having trouble managing the increasing number of locates within the mandatory timeline and challenging storm events are a hinderance to an already-strained staff.
Public Works budgeted a 5 percent increase in water for 2017. Garbage bag tag sales are down and more people are heading to the landfill with their garbage, a 25 percent increase.
Acting Director of Public Works, Len Purdue is looking to raise the waste management fee 25 percent.
Councillor Matheson suggested moving the flat rate up from $5 to $8 at the tipping scale to help offset fee charges. Purdue told the councillor that most of the time when a vehicle is weighed they would only be paying $3 so they make money from the $5 flat rate. Purdue suggested that it’s more of a cost to landfill visitors as they pay for their own gas to get there and take time out of their day, but added that it is something they can look into.
Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau said, “You can’t leave the bag tags untouched forever” and suggested that in a few years staff think about making adjustments.
When asked about the town owned cemeteries, Perdue said that plot sales are down and the crematorium sales have gone up. He said there is space in both Port Elgin and Southampton cemeteries for years to come.
Parks and Recreation is looking to raise harbour fees by 2 percent. Director of Community Services, Jayne Jagelewski, said that transient slips were up this season and that this past summer the harbour was at 88 percent capacity.
Town owned tourist camps saw a decline in 2016. The tourist camps will see a 4 percent increase in fees in 2017. John Rich made town staff aware that the level of service dedicated to these areas must be kept up. Councillor Cheryl Grace opposed the fee increase from 2 to 4 percent.
Councillor Matheson said staff should remove youth sport subsidies and create a youth rate for minor sports. He also requested ice rates for schools be reduced.
Following the draft operating budget meeting, Mayor Mike Smith said that where they had ended was acceptable, but that he’d like to see it lower. “I think we’ve had a really good budget, there’s a number of things in there that we’re starting to move forward, economic development that we looked at last year. We’re hearing a lot of service level increases for our community. Obviously... I’d like to see it lower.”
Smith said that each department presented a realistic budget to start with, which is a reason they ended the day the way they began.
The Capital Draft Budget will take place December 6 with the Operational and Capital Budget Review scheduled for January 16, 2017.
