King Township budget passes with a 5.94 per cent tax increase
By Anneleen Naudts

In a split vote last Monday, King Township councillors approved the 2008 budget and a 5.94 per cent tax increase.

A bylaw now has to be passed at the next council meeting to make it official.

While the Township's tax increase is 5.94 per cent, people will likely see a tax hike of approximately 3.5 per cent once the York Regional budget and that of the school boards are factored in.

The Region has yet to finalize its budget, but Mayor Margaret Black said "the latest out of the Region is four per cent."

The school boards budget will most likely not raise taxes, Black commented.

Councillors Jack Rupke, Bill Cober, Linda Pabst, Cleve Mortelliti, and Black approved the budget. Councillors Jane Underhill and Jeff Laidlaw were not in favour of it.

The budget includes a $25,063,706 operating budget and $31,843,178 in capital programs and funding services.

Laidlaw said he did not approve of the budget, citing it steers Township "in the wrong direction."

He said it is the role of council "to maintain the financial integrity of the Township," and added the budget "doesn't put the town in a healthy position."

"On that basis, I can't approve this budget," he said.

When asked to define what he meant by "wrong direction," Laidlaw remarked Township has "not necessarily looked at all options and resources to move forward in a positive manner."

Laidlaw concluded the budget was "not a bad effort, with the exception of one or two minor discrepancies."

Rupke was satisfied with the budget.

He considered it "a very responsible, long-term approach to addressing the needs of the community."

He said that if you look at it from the point of view of what a 5.94 per cent will mean to the average person, it will be equivalent to the price of one-and-a-half cups of coffee a week.

Rupke approved of the funding for roads included in the budget, since most calls he receives are regarding roads.

He remarked that road maintenance has been neglected in recent history.

"If you don't do the work now, and wait, it will cost more," he said, adding he did not want to be the one responsible for higher costs in the future.

Cober too was in favour of passing the budget.

"I don't like the tax increase any more than my neighbour," he remarked.

He added staff had the opportunity to cut the fat from the budget, since originally a 12.4 per cent increase was proposed.

Cober said he too was satisfied the Township was going forward with work on roads.

He asked Laidlaw what in particular he did not like about the budget.

Laidlaw replied "the Nobleton sewer, primarily." He said he would like to see the project deferred for the time being.

Cober commented the challenge with deferring projects is the associated cost increase.

Laidlaw agreed, citing the cost of roads increased because the work had been delayed for 10 to 15 years.

CAO Scott Somerville advised that even though the Nobleton sewer was included in the budget, this does not necessarily mean work on it will proceed.

It is included "more as a forecast," he said, to leave open the option of going ahead with the project this year.

Somerville said the associated cost would only be debentured "if we do the work."

Pabst said she would like work on the Nobleton sewer to go ahead.

"I would like to see it proceed," she said, adding that if it is delayed, the cost will increase.

She commented she did not like to see the tax increase, and said demands by the province put a strain on the municipality.

"Downloading and other requirements lead us to being a much more expensive operation to run," she said.

Underhill had reservations about the budget.

She expressed concern over debentures, depletion of services, as well as the cost of the municipal offices.

"We should not have moved here," she commented.

She said she hoped further cuts could have been made, and regretted staff again cut a $5,000 feasibility study for a senior's centre from the budget this year.

"I don't see why that's not going ahead," Underhill remarked.

Black expressed feeling glad King recently received an Ontario Roads Grant of $697,679 and a Provincial Grant of $6,625,000 for the municipality's portion of the Holland Marsh reconstruction project.

"It's a miracle we got that (money)," she commented.

Both grants were factored into the budget.

The bylaw to formally adopt the budget will be brought before council this coming Monday.