Ever upward

Council approves 7.3 per cent hike to the tax levy

Over five long and occasionally tumultuous days last week, council managed to shave about $3.5 million from the budget that had been put on the table at the beginning of the week. Still, it is $6.4 million more than the municipality budgeted to spend last year.

The tax levy—that is, the amount that must be raised from taxpayers to the County’s business— is up 7.3 per cent to $50.8 million from $47.3 million last year.

Council approved about $20 million for capital works including road repair, construction, and replacement, as well as the equipment to support that work and improvements to several municipal buildings and properties. The capital budget also earmarks $94.7 million for the redevelopment of the H.J. McFarland longterm care home, though it remains unclear whether the municipality can, or will, proceed without substantial provincial investment in the project.

WATERWORKS
Waterworks rates—and increases—are set for five years. The current regime was set up in 2022 and will be reset in 2027. The utility will generate $11.6 million from users in 2024. It will spend $6.6 million operating the waterworks system, with the remainder servicing debt and stashed in reserves for future infrastructure expansion.

ROADS
The County has embarked on an aggressive plan that will see ever-increasing investment in municipal roads until it is spending $25 million each year by 2028, and every year thereafter.

Director of Operations Adam Goheen told council that while this represents a huge amount of money, without it, County roads will continue to deteriorate.

“We need to have this long-term plan, and in my view, we need to stick with it,” urged Goheen. “It’s going to be the better solution in the long term for Prince Edward County.”

The 2024 capital budget includes $4.3 million directed to rural road rehabilitation. Of that, $2.5 million will be spent on single-surface— tar and gravel—treatment. Such treatment is expected to extend the lifespan of these roads.

Council approved a $2 million project for culvert replacements on County Road 49. The municipality will use $419,000 of Municipal Accommodation Tax funds and will seek donations or grants for the remainder of the culvert replacement project.

Director of Development Services Peter Moyer said that investing in Highway 49 sends a signal to the province that the County is committed to putting up a third of the cost of rehabilitating this major link.

Council approved Phase 3 of the Picton Main Street reconstruction (260 metres east of Spencer Street to Folkard Lane). The budget for the project includes $7.8 million for the road work portion and $9.7 million for the water and wastewater upgrade components.

A motion put forward by Councillor Brad Nieman, looking for staff to identify County roads that could be returned to gravel, also passed.

PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT
Council approved $250,000 for physician recruitment in the 2024 budget, the same sum as last year. But it added $100,000 for a pilot program, in which doctors with existing practices will be offered an incentive to expand their rostered patient list.

RELIEF PROGRAMS
Council also approved $473,000 to fund the Municipal Finacial Grant Program again this year. The program is aimed at low-income households in Prince Edward County.

Households earning less than $32,240 (single income) or $64,480 (family income) may apply to the rebate program. Qualifying tenants who pay for water and wastewater services can apply for $350 toward their water bill. Qualifying homeowners can apply for $750 toward their property tax bill.

Households earning less than $20,000 will be eligible for a higher rebate. Qualifying tenants who pay for water and wastewater services can apply for $500 toward their water bill, and qualifying homeowners can apply for a credit of $1,000 toward their property tax account.

OTHER ITEMS
Council approved nearly $429,000 to support several funding requests from community groups, including $80,000 for the Prince Edward Learning Centre Tax Program, $20,000 for food insecurity programs, $70,000 to support PEFAC, $13,450 for Community Care for Seniors and $90,000 for the ROC Youth Services program. These funds are in addition to the $146,000 set aside for the Community Grants program administered by The County Foundation.

H.J. MCFARLAND REBUILD
Council approved $94.7 million in capital costs for the redevelopment of its long-term care home. CAO Marcia Wallace told council she is still hopeful for an announcement from the province this spring committing it to long-term care funding.

“We had hoped to hear something this fall, but from my perspective, it’s the next budget that matters. If there’s nothing in that budget, then we know for sure that it’s not serious. I think we still have a few months before we give up,” she said.Wallace assured council that the fate of the long-term care home redevelopment is entirely contingent on the funding. She added that many other communities are awaiting a signal from Queen’s Park.

“Many of us are building long-term care facilities,” said CAO Wallace, “All of us are in the same boat in terms of escalating costs. It’s too hard for municipalities to build these on their own, and we are all mandated to have one, yet not enough financial support from the province to make this happen,” she added.

The County has until 2025 to either bring the facility up to fire code or build a new home.

WELLINGTON BEACH
A key recommendation of the 2022 Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario Shoreline Master Plan included the development of a site-specific study to develop a beach improvement/management plan for Wellington Beach that includes dune restoration, new parking strategy, mitigation of sedimentation within the navigational channel, and sediment retention strategies for the west half of the beach.

Council earmarked $200,000 of unspent climate emergency funding for the project.

LAST CALL
An assortment of budget requests were sidelined over the five days, totalling more than $12 million. These included equipment and projects deemed worthy of a deeper discussion. When the haggling was done, about $3.7 million was shaved from the list. The largest of these was the removal of two bridge/culvert projects

The largest of these was the removal of two bridge/culvert projects on Quaker and Fry Roads. The combined budget was almost $2.5 million—far too rich for the majority of council. Staff was asked to come back next year with some cheaper alternative solutions.