Committee nibbles away at 2025 tax hike
Eighteen people may have ultimately voted, but it was largely a one-man carving machine at Chatham-Kent’s budget session two days before American Thanksgiving.
South Kent Coun. Anthony Ceccacci led the way Tuesday evening, as Chatham-Kent council brought the proposed 2025 tax increase down to 5.11 per cent after four hours of meetings.
He attacked the initially proposed 5.96 per cent increase from the start of the meeting, going after spending on gravel for roads, as well as the funding of lifecycle projects.
His motions diverted $1.65 million away from annual resurfacing of more than 1,700 kilometres in gravel roads in the municipality, instead, doubling the resurfacing budget of such roads into paved surfaces to the tune of $2 million, up from $1 million. As well, he motioned to use the remainder of the removed funds – $650,000 – to lower the tax increase for next year.
The motion passed 14-4, but not without some debate.
The shift in funding will add a year onto the average time between gravel resurfacing – to four years from three.
This left some councillors concerned over road quality, while administration, led by Edward Soldo, general manager of infrastructure and engineering, said the move would allow more roads to be converted to paved surfaces, which would reduce the need for constant gravel grading and would be an effective solution for dust control on rural roads, something that resurfaced during the budget process.
Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor wanted to see $1.3 million added back into the budget for annual dust control despite the fact Soldo said the impact by the suppression effort was minimal at best.
“We apply it once per year. If you get it applied in May, I can guarantee you it is not effective in June, July and August,” he said. “In terms of an environmental impact, we’re an agricultural community and we’re putting down salt (in liquid form). That salt will eventually get into the crops.”
But McGregor said she’d done her own research on the matter.
Her motion failed 7-11.
Ceccacci also led a successful effort to trim $1.04 million from next year’s increase in the form of a reduction in tax-funded lifecycle spending to keep up with inflation.
The motion passed 16-2, but not without some reservation.
Ceccacci said options to trim elsewhere are limited.
“There’s no appetite to reduce services; there’s no appetite to affect any rural communities,” he said.
CFO Gord Quinton told council the move would impact future budgets, as it would not be a one-time impact.
On top of the big slices off the increase, Ceccacci finished up his efforts with an appetizer – using $200,000 from the emergency future economic downturn fund to help pay for one-time costs of the new tiny-cabin homeless shelter that’s being built on Hyslop Street in Chatham.
That motion passed 17-1.
After two hours of effort, the committee had trimmed the increase to 5.09 per cent before heading into a 90-minute closed session.
Councillors returned and promptly increased spending. Led by West Kent’s Melissa Harrigan, the committee opted to fund WiFi at local recreation facilities to the tune of $27,000 per year. The motion was unanimously passed.
The committee then approved about $107,000 in additions from the in-camera session for “base requirements for wage and burden” of nearly $81,000, and “one-time requirements for wage and burden” for nearly $27,000.
This motion passed without comment unanimously.
The committee back at it Wednesday evening, with numerous motions outstanding.
