Posted By CHRISTINE ENDICOTT , R & T STAFF WRITER
Town council here has finalized the 2010 budget, which calls for a two-per- cent tax hike for Fort Town property owners.
Mayor Suzanne Dodge said Tuesday that councillors met Monday night for a fifth and final budget meeting, during which they approved a levy increase that, with assessment changes, will result in a two-per-cent increase for the average property taxpayer.
"It really is a good-news budget because we are getting a lot done, and it really wasn't that hard," Dodge said in an interview. "We just looked at what we needed and what we could afford."
A homeowner with a $100,000 assessment will see the tax bill go up by an average $27.41, reported treasurer and deputy chief administrative officer Laurie Kirkby.
But Fort Town residents won't receive their bills in the mail for several months. Kirkby said the province has not yet set the increase in the education portion of the taxes -which accounts for almost half the total bill -so the envelopes won't be mailed out until July.
Council is expected to give the budget resolution first and second readings at its April 5 meeting and pass the budget officially at the April 19 meeting.
The $9.4-million budget includes $7.6 million for general operations and $1.8 million for capital, Kirkby reported.
Capital projects include $1.2 million in storm-sewer drainage improvements near Prince Street; roads work on Kingston Crescent; new fuel tanks, pumping and docking at the marina; painting of overpass railings; and a pool refurbishing project that includes renovations to change rooms, the treasurer said.
The pool building renovations are expected to cost $192,000, with $128,000 coming from a provincial grant and the balance from reserves, she said.
Dodge said council has set aside $20,000 for downtown revitalization and $10,000 toward a new fire hall in the budget.
She commended department heads for putting forth budgets with minimal increases.
"We basically said, 'Look at what you really need and come in with a budget that is two per cent and no more,' and they did. We are really, really pleased," the mayor said.
The budget includes about $400,000 in extra policing costs in the newest contract with Ontario Provincial Police. An additional officer is expected to be hired this summer, bringing the local force serving Prescott to 11 officers, Kirkby said.
"The $400,000 is not much different than what it would have cost had we stayed with our own policing," Dodge commented. "We would have had to build a new building."
Last month, finance committee chair-m
an Jo-Anne Beckstead reported $200,000 had to be shaved to keep the tax hike to two per cent.
The mayor said Tuesday the committee met that goal by cutting "a little bit here, a little bit there."
Water and sewer rates will be frozen for 2010, Dodge noted.
Several proposed projects are not included in the budget because no provincial or federal funding has yet been received. Councillors scrapped plans to extend water and sewer services to the north side of Highway 401 after failing to receive infrastructure funding.
Also, no provincial-federal funding has yet been received for a $2-million waterfront project.
Dodge said the town has set aside funding for the project's first phase, expected to cost about $350,000. That part of the project includes park benches, interlocking stone, trees and parking spaces in front of the Mariners' Club condominium project by the town dock, she reported.
Other phases of the proposed plan include a new park near the docks, improvements at the Clock Tower lot and change rooms for the Shakespeare festival actors, said Dodge.
cendicott@recorder.ca