Duane Hicks
The 2017 budget process is all but finalized after town council gave it the nod at their regular meeting Monday night.
The $34.5-million budget includes a zero percent tax levy increase–meaning the town will not be collecting any more tax revenue than it did last year.
But Mayor Roy Avis noted the town will not “fall behind” by having a zero percent levy increase this year.
“I’d like to explain,” he said at Monday night’s meeting. “The town does not have a zero percent budget, but rather a zero percent in our tax levy to the taxpayer in the Town of Fort Frances.”
Mayor Avis noted council always talks about “uncontrollable” costs during budget time and this year, the town actually experienced a decrease in those, including the OPP service contract, Rainycrest payment, Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board levy, court security costs, long-term debts, and education apportionment.
“This provided us an approximate reduction of $500,000,” he remarked.
“As a result the town was able to use this money to offset our controlled portion of the budget.”
Going forward, Mayor Avis said because of the assessment changes, the town’s overall assessment is down $13 million for residential and commercial–equalling a loss of $210,000 in tax revenues.
“This gives us less money to work with, which, in turn, affects the overall budget process,” he noted.
While the town is collecting the same amount of tax revenue this year, in order to still get that amount with all of the assessment drops, council has had to adjust tax ratios somewhat.
The tax ratios determine the amounts to be collected from each property class.
For example, the residential tax rate is 1.28 percent higher than last year.
When residential property owners receive their final tax notices, 1,930 property assessments will increase–reflecting a tax increase of anywhere from $44 for 1,391 property owners to $1,161 for the top three.
Meanwhile, 1,136 residential property owners will see their taxes decrease an average of $166.
A total of 151 residential property owners’ taxes will remain the same.
On the commercial side, the tax rates have been dropped by 1.7 percent for some commercial property owners, increased by .55 percent for others, and hiked nearly 64 percent for a few at the top end of the spectrum who have seen an assessment decrease.
The end result is a total of 133 property owners will see their tax bills go up anywhere from $40 for nearly half of them to $6,269 for one commercial property.
On the other hand, 125 commercial properties will see their taxes go down an average of $1,309.
Mayor Avis thanked treasurer Laurie Lindberg and the entire management team for the efforts put forth in the 2017 budget, as well as council for its hard work delivering a budget “that satisfies most of our concerns.”
The $34.5-million budget consists of a $21.74-million operating budget, a $7.57-million capital budget, and a $5.26-million water and sewer operating budget.
The budget will be presented publicly either in May or early June, at which time it will finalized through the pertinent bylaws.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•referred a sponsorship request from “Tour de Fort” to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation, with input from the Community Services executive committee;
•approved a volunteer firefighter employment policy;
•approved the annual review of the health and safety policy;
•agreed to several in-kind requests from the Boundary Waters Dragon Boat Festival;
•agreed to support the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Legal Defence Fund request and authorized payment in the amount of $206.67;
•authorized acceptance of the O.P.P. office lease agreement audited financials for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016 and further authorized payment of the invoice for same in the amount of $1,587.09;
•authorized acceptance of the Provincial Offences Fort Frances Court Services Area Trust Fund audited financials for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016 and further authorized payment of the invoice for same in the amount of $3,916.81;
•awarded Tender 17-PD-04 (renovations to the Civic Centre, Public Works Building, Sunny Cove, Memorial Sports Centre, and Children’s Complex) to Quality Builders in the amount of $198,270; and
•authorized entering into a municipal access agreement with Tbaytel for the installation of fibre optic network within the Town of Fort Frances.
