Meaford council has received its 2022 draft budget and it calls for a tax increase of 5.6 per cent.
The budget report was presented to council during their meeting on Dec. 13 by Meaford CAO Rob Armstrong.
He told councillors the proposed budget would cost the owner of an average assessed home in Meaford an additional $146 on annual property tax bills.
The $16.6 million draft spending plan includes $9.6 million allocated for capital projects.
The capital funding was divided into:
-$3.5 million for bridges
-$2 million for parks and facilities
-$1.6 million for roads
-$1.4 million for infrastructure
-$450,000 for fleet management
-$277,000 for fire services
-$111,000 for information technology
-$72,000 for Meaford Hall
-$40,000 for the library
-$18,000 for corporate services
Council will meet over the course of the month of January to iron out the details of the budget, before meeting on Feb. 14, 2022, for final approvals.
A residential engagement session on the budget will be held at a special council meeting on Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m., at Woodford Community Centre.
Armstrong says the staff want to take a very collaborative approach with council for this year’s budget process.
“In the past its maybe, staff have said ‘this is the budget, it is now up to you.’ We want to work very closely with you through this entire process, in finding ways and efficiencies and thinking outside the box as we try to finalize our budget and deliver the best budget for our rate payers that we feel that we can with all of the constraints that we have,” says Armstrong.
