We look to have an early indicator of what’s to come at a special council meeting looking at the 2023 budget in Quinte West later this month.
At a special council meeting looking at the budget in February, council unanimously voted to have staff to look into the feasibility of a 3% tax levy increase for the first year of the budget after concerns from the public regarding the initial draft budget proposing for an 8.45% increase over the next four years.
Speaking to council at a meeting on Wednesday, Councillor Zack Card indicated that after speaking with the city’s treasurer, Caleb DenOuden, the budget presentation set to be delivered at the next special council meeting will show 50 line items showing “different buckets of revenue razors or spending cuts” in order to make a 3% tax levy increase feasible.
Card spoke about what he was told.
“That guidance that we gave to prepare superseded the previous council guidance for the two and a half per cent capital framework that we had come to after the presentations with the debt overview and the capital presentations earlier in the year,” Card told council.
“So, basically a long way of saying that is this 3% (tax levy increase) will have zero per cent capital … you know that was sorely lacking for me not having any capital. Questions about it, any framework, nothing, it’s just zero and that’s it. It might possibly even be into the negative to make the 3% work.”
Card said that if there is a zero per cent increase for capital investments, he would not be comfortable with passing anything without having a look at the impact on capital spending.
“We saw what that would mean later in the term with the list of must do’s. It would be very big numbers the next three years,” Card told council.
Before the meeting, Card added a notice of motion to the agenda to look at additional framework for a budget with a 5.9% tax levy increase noting he picked the number in order to meet the criteria for the notice of motion.
Councillor Karen Sharpe indicated that she would not be supporting the motion saying her expectation was that multiple approaches were to be provided anyway.
“My expectation when we made that motion last time was for staff to come back and indicate here’s what we would get at 3% and here’s buckets and what that impact is, and for this council to debate what we need to put back or not put back,” Sharpe explained.
On the other side of the coin, Councillor Don Kuntze said he would be giving his support to the motion.
He explained that while he thinks neither a 3% or 5.9% tax levy increase would work, he says the citizens spoke and they want to see the options on the table.
“We’ve had a chance to hear what the citizens have to say and it’s going to be our responsibility to make a decision on how we’re going to proceed. So I do want to see what the 5.9% option is and I also want the citizens to see (it),” Kuntze said.
Since the notice of motion was added to the agenda before the meeting, council were able to vote.
In a vote, the motion was defeated 4-9.
Councillors who voted in support of a 5.9% tax levy increase framework guidance were Don Kuntze, David O’Neill, Zack Card and Mayor Jim Harrison.
It was stressed that neither the 3% tax levy increase nor the proposed 5.9% tax levy increase were final budgets and that both are meant to be used as guidance to help decide on a final tax levy increase.
It was also stressed that there would still be individual options that council could look at when it came to spending cuts that will be presented at the next budget meeting.
The special council meeting looking at the budget is scheduled to take place on March 22.
