Expansion projects have been added to the City of Stratford's work-in-progress draft budget, including some new supervisor positions.
City's council's finance and labour relations committee, which will ultimately present a budget to the entirety of council, met to discuss the ongoing budget on Tuesday night.
Expansion projects are items that will expand the municipality’s reach. Some are new vehicles, others could be new positions being created.
All expansion projects that were presented were added to the 2023 draft budget by the committee, aside from the Erie Street trail rehabilitation expansion project. That expansion project was withdrawn from consideration, as funding for the project was unsuccessful.
The requests that were approved were:
- Retaining a third-party consultant to facilitate a strategic priorities 2023-28 list
- Grand Trunk Block next steps
- A new Cloud Permit software for data management
- Improvements to water and wastewater network communications (SCADA)
- Two additional vehicles for the social services department
- A small utility vehicle for trail maintenance and cemetery line trimming
- A new supervisor of recreation services position
- A new supervisor of facility and building operations position
- A new clerk-secretary position for various facilities in the municipality
- Moving one part-time parallel transit driver position to a full-time position
- Moving three part-time transit driver positions to full-time positions
The most expensive project is the Grand Trunk Block, which was approved to the tune of $2.5 million. That cost will not impact the tax levy as it is funded entirely through a reserve fund, a pool of money that was set aside for the project.
As Karmen Krueger, director of corporate services told StratfordToday, that approval would all but deplete the fund, but it will put the City in a better position to be shovel-ready when the project gets underway.
Coun. Larry McCabe expressed an interest in updating the Grand Trunk Master Plan, which is now about five years old.
The master plan was created in 2017 to guide the growth and development of the Grand Trunk Block and planned community hub. It also identifies partners in the project, such as the YMCA and the Stratford School of Interactive Business and Design.
Coun. McCabe argued that although a previous council may have had similar plans for the Grand Trunk Block, as a new council with many new councillors they might have other priorities and should be knowledgeable of what they will be voting on.
Mayor Martin Ritsma said he was hesitant to delay the project anymore, as it may lead to missed opportunities when it comes to funding. CAO Joan Thompson clarified that the master plan has sufficient wiggle room that council is not tied down.
The Grand Trunk Block expansion project was added to the draft budget.
As deliberations got underway, Coun. Brad Beatty clarified with Krueger that just the three new staff positions created would result in a 0.5 per cent increase to the tax-levy, if approved. He emphasized his hesitancy in establishing these positions.
Coun. Bonnie Henderson concurred.
“That’s where my concerns are coming from,” Coun Henderson said. “I keep thinking of all the people in our city that even raising the taxes by $200 a year is a real hardship … CPP is going up. You got the carbon tax, groceries, gas. I’m worried that we’ll end up with more people on the street.”
Although conversation turned towards the next item, committee chair Mark Hunter clarified his support of the expansion projects: increased revenue. He argued that the hope is that with expansion of services, the revenue would offset the increased tax cost.
After a just over four-hour meeting, city council adjourned with a handful of projects still to be determined.
At the start of the meeting, Krueger shared that 6.63 per cent was the current tax levy increase. The tax levy does not result in a direct 6.63 per cent increase to the rate that residents will pay.
After looking at how the taxes are spread across all the different property types, the expected residential tax rate increase is 4.29 per cent.
The expansion projects and draft budget are still not approved and will go to city council for final approval. If they are all approved, the tax levy will increase to 7.55 per cent, with the expected residential tax rate being 5.10 per cent.
The budget deliberations are nearing an end at committee level. Krueger told council that the final tax rate implications will be presented at the subsequent committee meeting, on Feb. 21, once the rest of the expansion projects are presented.
