Local taxpayers to pay more for social services

Ontario budget cuts will mean a substantial increase in local funding for social service programs, starting July first.

For Belleville, Quinte West and Hastings County this means an extra 101-thousand-844-dollars this year and 203-thousand in future years.

Acting Director Erin Rivers told the Social Services committee recently that the provincial cuts will affect “discretionary benefits for welfare recipients. This includes such things as funerals, baby cribs, dental and vision care.

But Rivers says it will also affect the Employment Connection program that placed 132-welfare recipients into jobs last month.