Getting to zero

County staff proposes cuts to budget

Mayor Peter Mertens was elected in large part to put the County’s finances in order. After a decade in which property taxes more than doubled—voters said they wanted change.

Mertens said he would work toward a zero increase in the County’s budget.

But in its first draft, municipal staff tabled what it called a “status quo” budget—maintaining services and infrastructure at the same level as last year—meaning a 9.7 per cent increase in the tax levy (the amount the County collects in property taxes).

Council sent this proposal back—nearly unanimously directing staff to come back with a budget that holds the line on taxes.

Last Thursday, council learned what it will take to lock in a zero per cent increase in its 2011 budget. Senior municipal staff unveiled a list 40 “potential solutions and adjustments” to reduce operating costs, and a handful of capital projects it could put off for another year or two.

If council were to accept each of these recommendations, the budget under staff’s direct control would be flat in 2011. Some of the measures will likely be met with stiff resistance, however.

These include closing the town halls in Wellington, Athol and South Marysburgh, and Benson Hall in Picton, for six months. Money would be cut from specialized transit service, suspending service to the County’s landfill and transfer sites during the winter months except Picton and Wellington.

Some councillors reacted immediately against specific cuts, particularly in their ward.

Sophiasburgh Councillor Kevin Gale told Recreation, Parks and Culture staff they would have to answer to a meeting hall of boating enthusiasts when he saw the department was recommending the deferral of repairs to the boat launch in Northport.

Others did an about-face once they saw the list. Hallowell Councillor Keith McDonald had chided fellow council members earlier in the day that tough choices would have to be made.

“This afternoon we are going to see the men separated from the boys,” challenged McDonald, sailing over the fact that nearly a third of council doesn’t share his gender.

But when the list of recommendations was handed around the table after lunch, McDonald was the first to notice that a $300,000 plan to improve drainage along County Rd. 12 was on the list to be deferred and that road resurfacing would be cut back. He dropped his cost-cutting crusade and became a defender of County roads.

“These are the roads residents travel on every day,” said McDonald. “We’ve got a responsibility to look after our roads.”

But Public Works head Robery McAuley said his department’s recommendations were made in consultation with his staff and would not jeopardize driver safety, nor would the County’s road system suffer markedly.

Merten’s cautioned his fellow council members that if they were going to ask for one of the recommended cuts to be put back into the budget, they had better be prepared to suggest something else of equal value be taken off.

Mertens applauded the work of staff in producing legitimate, workable—though difficult recommendations.

“This buys us time,” said Mertens. “From here we can examine the base and change the way we do business.”

Other councillors, too, were impressed by the quality and thoroughness of the work done by staff to root our savings.

“This is an excellent start,” said Wellington Councillor Jim Dunlop. “We knew holding the line was going to mean a cut in service—they’ve done a good job of giving us the options.”

Council was to have met on Tuesday to decide if it would accept the recommendations. It was not clear whether they would find a consensus in a half-day of deliberation.