The public is encouraged to come out and offer its input on the town’s proposed 2003 budget at a special meeting slated next Monday (Jan. 13) at 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
“It’s ready to go,” CAO Bill Naturkach said of the budget. “Now, it just has to be passed as a bylaw.”
Copies of the draft proposal, which councillors and town staff finished preparing late last month, are available for viewing at the Civic Centre reception desk and the Fort Frances Public Library.
Naturkach advised residents to check it out.
“If people have had a chance to look at it, and they have some sort of comment to make, they can come to me, senior management, or any of the members of council, and attend to the matter before the meeting so it’s not last minute,” he remarked.
The proposed budget, which is balanced at $18,940,200, includes a 4.25 residential tax hike.
The hike was all but inevitable, said Naturkach, since the town has been dead set on continuing its commitment to prevent increases for commercial and industrial rates (and, if possible, lower them) and thus has to get the revenue from somewhere.
Last year’s budget saw a two percent jump for residential ratepayers.
The budget was devised with input from the public at a previous meeting, as well as from the citizen satisfaction survey conducted last summer.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
