Director of Finance Amanda Carter and CAO Marcia Wallace. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
Five days of debate, examination, reports, and proposals. Innumerable votes. Many bad jokes. And one last time, late Friday afternoon, Council voted to approve an operating budget of $81 million, $54 million of which will be raised through the property tax roll. The balance will come from user fees, provincial and federal transfer payments, and grants. The operating budget funds services such as road and bridge maintenance, garbage pick-up, policing, recreational programs, emergency services, libraries, museums, community services, and long-term care. We report in detail on some of the envelopes here. More can be found on our website.
Council also settled on a tax-payer funded capital budget of $59.6 million. This fund covers the cost of repair, construction, and replacement and the equipment to support that work, an emergency vehicle, and improvements to several municipal buildings and properties.
The annual rate increase will be 6.43 percent — or 3.79 percent after taking the year’s property tax base growth into account. For homeowners, the increase will mean an additional $45 for each $100,000 in assessed property value.
“This fiscally responsible budget allows the municipality to maintain the services the community relies on while also investing in critical infrastructure such as roads,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson. “We focused on holding steady as we work to finalize in 2025 the long-term plan for maintaining, repairing, and keeping all of our assets in good working condition.”
For residents living on low incomes, Council voted to continue the Municipal Financial Relief Program, setting aside $473,000. Households earning less than $32,240 (single) or $64,480 (family) can apply to one of two streams of the Water program: tenants can apply for $350 toward their water bill and qualifying homeowners can apply for $750 toward their property tax account. There is additional support for households of any kind living on less than $20,000 per year. Council also directed staff to explore additional support for qualifying residents. Staff will report to Council by the third quarter of 2025, in time for the 2026 budget.
Council approved a 2025 water and wastewater capital budget of $479,600 with an operating budget set for the coming year at $11.9 million. These budgets are supported entirely by rates; no property taxes fund water and wastewater services. The water and wastewater rates for the period of 2022-2026 were approved through a Council by-law in 2021 and a new Water and Wastewater Rates Community Working Group will inform rates to be set for the 2027-31 billing cycle.
Council and the Mayor’s office will see an overall increase of 8.25% in tax-supported funds. Included in that figure is a 3.7% increase in wages and benefits for the Mayor and Councillors.
Councillor Roy Pennell took issue with the 8.2% increase, and suggested keeping it to the rate of inflation by lowering Councillor salaries. “If it comes out of my wages, or somebody else’s wages, whatever,” he said.
Council then considered a motion to reduce the budget increase from 8.2% to the inflationary rate of 2.7%.
Councillors then addressed the values and expectations of the job.
“What do we do, get rid of all our supports?” Councillor Janice Maynard asked, noting councillors already work with austere benefits and professional expenses.
Councillor Chris Braney remarked that he’s “not here for the wages and dental plan,” but rather for the sake of “community service.” He supported a reduced increase.
Councillor Sam Branderhorst supported the idea of tamping down spending, but not at a loss of wages.
“Groceries are increasing and some of us are working off tight budgets,” she said. “I had to quit a job to make this work. It is a great service to this community but it does eat up a lot of my time.”
The motion failed 7-6, with councillors Braney, Pennell, Prinzen, Harrison, Branderhorst, and Englesdorfer in favour of the cut.
Included in the increase are contracted and professional services, now to be budgeted at $20,000, a 300% increase. The bulk of it is for audiovisual and IT support to broadcast Council and committee meetings.
“It’s very hard to livestream, clerk, and take minutes,” said County Clerk Catalina Blumenberg, understandably.
A well-known Ameliasburgh business owner went against the normal grain at budget time last week. Kurt Vanclief of Willowlee Sod opened the proceedings with a deputation asking the County to spend more moeny.
Noting that no resident ever wants to pay higher taxes, Mr. Vanclief also observed building costs, equipment prices, and wages for unionized employees have risen steeply in the last several years.
But underfunding infrastructure to curry short-term favour with the electorate is having deleterious effects on essential services, like roads, which have been allowed to significantly degrade over the last decade.
“You are in a tough position. Taxpayers want to pay less for more and better services,” Mr. Vanclief said. “Previous councils have been reluctant to raise taxes to keep pace with the increase in costs.”
Mr. Vanclief has heard County staff explain clearly why the roads in Prince Edward County will continue to degrade, languishing below the provincial standard before improvements can come. Legacy decisions by previous councils created the problem.
“Leaving it and doing nothing is not acceptable.”
While acknowledging local families living paycheque to paycheque would not be happy, Mr. Vanclief asked if the municipality were really serving those residents by allowing assets to continue to degrade to the point where the burden of rehabilitation costs would be astronomical.
“The burden will be so high we may never catch up,” he said. Levers such as special infrastructure levies, and increased user costs are always met with resistance. Those decisions are never popular.
“This week I ask you to ask yourself during your deliberations, ‘Will this be cheaper and easier to fix if we put it off another year?’
“I encourage you to increase spending to repair our roads and maintain the standards. Stop pushing our problems to future councils and future generations.”
Heading into the week-long budget process, Director of Finance Amanda Carter sounded the alarm about very low municipal reserve funds.
Reserve funds are those set aside to meet both capital requirements and the obligations of the operating budget. Capital reserves include funds for community facilities, parkland projects, IT, fire and land ambulance equipment, and roads and bridges.
Nearly all are at levels insufficient for anticipated capital projects in 2025 or to sustain a comprehensive Asset Management Plan
In 2023, Council whittled down transfers to reserves. That decision is coming home.
“Reserves are very low. There’s not a wealth of capital to pull from to finance your infrastructure renewal or rehabilitation,” Ms. Carter told Council.
For example, the $477, 000 set aside in the parkland envelope is almost completely allocated for specific projects.
Budgeting from the roads construction rural ($3.3 million) and urban ($1.3 million) reserves is down to the penny while annual transfers into the bridges envelope ($1.24 million) were cut as part of budget deliberations last year.
Meanwhile, Hastings County notified the municipality late last month that it should be considering the purchase of a third ambulance to meet service requirements. The land ambulance reserve is at $338,000. “That reserve would not bear a new ambulance purchase,” said Ms. Carter.
“For asset planning and infrastructure projects, we are simply not there,” she added. “There’s a huge reliance on debt to finance infrastructure in this community. It’s not a good news story.”
If the County were hit with a natural weather event like the “snowmageddon” in Ontario’s cottage country earlier this month, it would struggle to meet the challenge due to limited operational reserves.
“Our tax rate stabilization reserves, our contingency reserves, and our operating reserves are very low. If there were an emergency tomorrow, we would have very little room to pivot,” Ms. Carter said.
“It’s dangerous,” she warned.
Near the end of the week, however, councillors chose not to use the tax levy to bolster reserves. Councillor Janice Maynard asked for a two percent levy for Rural Road Construction and a one percent levy for the Tax Rate Stabilization fund. The motion failed with the dissenters mentioning 2025 was not the time to start the rebuild. Instead, they have pinned their hopes on selling off buildings in the coming year.
“Some of these assets and properties are just sinking us to try and maintain,” Councillor Chris Braney told Council. Making a list and selling them off is the first step in rebuilding depleted reserve accounts.
“Low reserves are detrimental to the ability to manage the municipality. We have some tough choices ahead but we need to focus on this, get those funds into the reserves and start building on them.”
Staff pledged to establish reserve thresholds and contribution minimums for Council’s consideration early in 2025 to ensure savings are at appropriate levels the coming years.
Road repair projects account for the largest portion of the 2025 budget. But on the plus side, Highway 49 could be repaired within two years — although the plan depends on major provincial and federal contributions. The County has applied for $20 million through the province’s Housing Enabling Core Services Fund. It is also pressing the Federal government to take on a further $24 million share.
“I’m very confident, as is our task team. We have so many people on our side that are lobbying the province,” said Councillor Chris Braney. “We are very optimistic.”
Sections of CR 1 and 3 are budgeted for asphalt repair, at costs of $3,096,500 and $1,767,700, respectively. Repair to the Bloomfield Main St. Connecting Link to 49 is priced at $2,315,000. A grant could cover 90 percent of the cost. Increased traffic on CR 35 means surface treatment at $310,708. The Ministry of Transportation has agreed to cover 60 percent of the project.
The Elm Street Laneway, a critical access point to PECI for parents and caretakers of junior school students, is slated for reconstruction next year. Funds allocated total $167,000.
The road presents safety concern due to lack of sidewalks and severe potholes in winter.
Speaking in opposition to the repairs, Councillors Brad Nieman said the laneway is of “no benefit to the municipality. It’s the school that benefits.”
Councillor Nieman put forward a motion to close a portion of the Elm St. Laneway, rather than undertake repairs. Staff warned Council, though, that this would leave them open to liability. Any road closure requires a public meeting and could be appealed, incurring the risk of legal costs.
“It’s a very small price to pay for the safety of children,” said Councillor Sam Grosso.
The motion to repair the laneway passed 9-4. Councillors Nieman, Braney, Harrison, and Pennell were opposed.
Council unanimously awarded a $67 million tender for the redevelopment of the H.J. McFarland Memorial Home last week.
To expand and meet new requirements set out by the Ministry of Long-term care, the County is turning H.J. McFarland into a “Class A” facility, nearly doubling the number of beds. Of four competitive bids, Matheson Construction’s was the lowest to meet all the tender criteria. It also matches the estimated cost of the new build.
To help pay for redevelopment and operations, the County will receive a provincial Construction Funding Subsidy (CFS) of $82.6 million over 25 years, which has an option to convert $13 million into an upfront Construction Grant. The rest of the money is spaced out over the 25 years, though, while the hefty construction costs are short term. The County can allocate some Development Charges and has set a fundraising goal of $1 million, but it also approved an increase to the tax levy of 1% beginning in 2025 to offset the expense in future years.
Council approved continuing several projects underway in Benson Park. Benson Town Hall requires significant structural work, such as removing asbestos from the floor, to get up to code, and the playground equipment is at end of life. Director of Recreation Lisa Lindsay said staff are preparing for a “new deep dive” after Council voted against a proposed master plan design earlier this year.
The OPP have asked that the new park incorporate the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). The playground will move to the centre of the park for greater visibility.
The pickleball court in Benson will return to a multi-use tennis court pending the addition of six new pickleball courts elsewhere in Picton.
The Delhi Park Community Connections Plan, an active transportation pathway to connect Macaulay Village and Delhi park, moves to the implementation phase in 2025. The $100,000 project is to be funded entirely through a grant. The pathway design has been created in consultation with the planners of Homes First Nicholas Street, an affordable housing development at the top of Delhi that features an accessible pathway into the park.
Jack Taylor Park in Hillier will get a brick and mortar washroom at a cost of $99,000. The outdoor rink at Wilkinson Memorial Park in Waupoos was budgeted for an $80,000 upgrade, but a succession of mild winters has nixed that plan. Councillors dedicated the funds to park improvements instead.”
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