A Belleville city councillor is less than impressed with news that Southeast Public Health finished 2025 with
a $3.6 million surplus, which its board of directors placed in a reserve fund.
Reacting to a Quinte News story earlier this week, Councillor Kelly Henderson said she’d be submitting
a Freedom of Information request for details on what was included in the over $1 million public health
budget under “Professional and Contract Services.”
At Belleville council’s operating budget this week council unanimously passed Henderson’s motion to have Southeast Public Health cut its budget request to a three per cent increase from the requested five per cent.
Henderson maintains some or all of the surplus should have been used to lower public health’s 2026 budget
and ease the burden on taxpayers.
Henderson’s letter is below.
