By Marianne Cole
Municipal Development Plan Review
The MDP review process has been temporarily paused. We will keep you posted with any further news as it becomes available.
Regional Governance
The first efforts on public engagement regarding town/county/village amalgamation have now been completed. A virtual meeting was held on February 17th and then people had until March 10th to submit their survey responses on the matter. As the consultants had done a very poor job of putting out information on the matter, the CCTA put together a wrap around the March 3rd issue of the Western Star. It outlined the potential impacts of joining the local municipalities under one jurisdiction. We heard very positive comments about this effort to give county residents more valuable information on such an important issue.
66 surveys were handed in to the county office and it is unknown how many were handed in to the town and village, or how many were submitted on line. A report is now being prepared by the consultants and we hope to hear those results in April.
Up-Coming Tax Rate
Significant discussion took place at the March 17th CCTA meeting on the up-coming tax rate. As a result, a motion was passed that we write a letter to County Council asking for a reduction in the tax rate, as well as a potential rebate on taxes for businesses in the county. We are well aware of the reduced income that the county currently receives due to the down-turn in the oil industry, but county residents and businesses are also being impacted financially by the economy and Covid. Reduced taxes could potentially result in a community benefit.
We also requested council direct administration to practise as much fiscal restraint/efficiency as possible.
Another concern expressed at the meeting was related to our current reserves. There is a worry that the province will look at our significant reserves (current overall total of $106, 778, 399) and subsequently reduce their normal financial support.
Following our meeting I did some research to compare our finances with those of two of our neighboring jurisdictions. The chart below shows some of the more interesting highlights. Compared to others, we can perhaps be thankful for the prudent operation of our council and administration. We trust that it will continue with the current budget and subsequent tax rate.
INTERESTING FINANCIAL COMPARISONS
Category Neighbor 1 Clearwater County Neighbor 2
1. 2019 Revenue $29, 527, 880 $56, 751,795 $62, 342, 757
2. 2019 Expenses $31, 992, 315 $52, 163, 359 $79, 140, 676
3. Surplus/Deficit $2, 464, 435 $4, 588, 436 $16, 797, 919
4. Accumulated
surplus/reserves $43, 310, 314 $106, 778, 399 $52, 380, 944
5. Reeve/mayor
remuneration &
benefits total $97, 416 $63, 640 $102, 739
6. Average of
councillor
remuneration/
benefits $57, 675 $52, 182 $67, 348
Population
comparisons: 7, 770 11, 900 19, 500
Note: The 2020 figures are not yet available. The audited financial statements are usually presented the end of April/beginning of May.
Change of Meeting Date
Due to the up-coming Blue Mountain Power Corp.’s annual meeting being set for the same date as our regular monthly meeting, we are moving or next meeting to one week earlier. It will be held on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 7:30PM at the Arbutus Community Hall. Everyone is welcome and social distancing is in effect.
UP-COMING EVENTS:
Regular monthly meetings: Wednesday, April 14, 2021; Wednesday, May 19, 2021 7:30PM, Arbutus Community Hall
Easter Smiles:
How do you catch a unique Easter Bunny? Unique up on it.
Why shouldn’t you tell an Easter egg a joke? Because it might crack up.
Why did the Easter egg hide? He was a little chicken.
No comments:
Post a Comment