Brockton residents will see the municipal portion of their property tax bill go up by 7.43 per cent, which amounts to an increase of $188.81 per year or $15.73 per month for the average property.
The total levy for 2023 is $11,483,398.
Council decided, by a narrow margin, to include an additional $100,000 (for a total of $200,000) to go into the reserve for a new arena.
Other key decisions made at the Feb. 7 budget meeting include funding the rehabilitation of the Walkerton tennis courts from part of the proceeds from sale of the armoury building.
The $214,000 project will include converting lighting to LED, a new base, surface coating, line painting and new nets, with the provision of two pickleball courts and two tennis courts. During discussion, council members made it clear they’d like to see tennis and pickleball players form a group, which could assist with fundraising and grant applications. However, council wants the work on rehabilitating the courts done this year, hence the decision to fund the work with reserves rather than fundraise and/or apply for grants.
Other groups commended for their efforts on behalf of the community – recognized through increased funding or decreased costs for services, included Victoria Jubilee Hall, Walkerton Capitals and Chepstow Lions Club.
The report by CFO Trish Serratore noted the continued impact of COVID-19 has led to increased operating and capital costs while the municipality is still recovering from pandemic-related loss of revenue, with property assessments remaining frozen at 2016 values. This has meant “the municipality is once again facing another challenging year with the 2023 budget.”
A press release issued by Brockton following the approval of the 2023 budget stated council “found creative funding options to move forward with key infrastructure projects and necessary equipment while relieving some of the pressures from higher interest rates on long-term debts.”
Another item that offered what Mayor Chris Peabody described as “breathing room” for the budget was an increase of $150,443 from the province in the court security and prisoner transport grant, from $267,000 to $417,000.
Two important infrastructure projects this year are the Yonge Street reconstruction and the trunk watermain replacement. However, they aren’t the only projects for 2023. The budget included $450,000 (from reserves) for replacing the 23-year-old street sweeper that tends to break down when it’s most needed, as well as money for converting streetlights on Jackson Street and Durham Street to LED ($150,000), and replacing bridge 0018 on Concession 6 of Greenock ($330,000).
Brockton will be offering additional programming at the Regional Training Centre, Walkerton Fire Hall.
An item that promises to be important to recreation in the area for many years is a feasibility study to consider designs for a new recreation complex and potential improvements to the existing arena.
CAO Sonya Watson said, “The municipality continues to provide quality service with a responsible tax rate increase and must balance the needs of our community related to services and infrastructure renewal in a challenging economy. As Brockton continues to grow, council is committed to prioritizing our investments in infrastructure and recreation which are crucial to our community. The 2023 budget process remained focused on completing essential projects and planning for the future so that the municipality can grow in an effective and fiscally responsible manner.”
As stated in the press release, a key theme in this year’s budget is “finding an appropriate balance between reducing long-term debt and investing in reserve funds for future infrastructure.”
Mayor comments
The budget was approved at the end of the Feb. 8 special budget meeting, the third such meeting.
The mayor commented that he would have liked more time for additional work on the budget, to get the tax increase “close to the rate of inflation.” He had in mind something in the range of 6.0 per cent. However, council felt confident in approving the 2023 budget at 7.43 per cent.
“The key (element in this budget) is the real attempt by staff to keep close to the (rate of) inflation by cutting transfers to reserves, except for the $200,000 for the new arena project,” said Peabody.
He noted it was a divided vote.
Peabody went on to say that council needs to look at “the external transfers like MIC (Municipal Innovation Council) and Saugeen Municipal Airport that we have… we can’t ask staff to cut when we’re sending money (outside the municipality).” He said he’ll be bringing back MIC next year, noting that funding it is “double dipping” since local taxpayers are also paying for what the county provides.
