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New Tecumseth releases information on 2024 budget

December 4, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Town of New Tecumseth held a Public Input Session on Nov. 15 to hear from the public regarding topics of interest for future discussion regarding the Draft 2024 budget.

The draft budget currently contains a proposal for 74 capital projects valued at $47 million. This is placing significant pressure on the Development Charge Reserve balances as well as the Town’s Asset Replacement Reserve.

In addition to capital, Council has identified a number of other priorities that require discussion.

At present, the Town’s draft Base Budget has a net operating and capital levy of $43.9 million, which translates to a 7.83 per cent general levy increase. In addition, the budget includes a dedicated contribution to capital replacement of $2.2 million, which translates into an increase of 2 per cent.

This reflects Council’s priority of supporting existing infrastructure, as was reaffirmed by the capital levy increase from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent in 2023.

The combined levy increase is 9.83 per cent, which represents a property tax increase of $236 for the average home, excluding estimates or the County and Education levies.

The Enhance Budget contains suggestions to consider among 19 Service Enhancement Requests with a total value of $967 thousand, which, if fully approved, would translate into an additional 2.23 per cent levy increase.

Water and wastewater user rates are proposed to increase by 15 per cent and 8.5 percent, respectively, to support the Town’s move toward full cost recovery. An analysis of the Town’s current rates and costs, including operating costs and longer-term asset management requirements, was recently completed by Hemson Consulting Ltd. The study recommended transitioning to higher rates over the next few years to ensure funding is available for future asset maintenance and replacement.

The impact on the average home using 200 cubic meters of water per year is approximately $76 or $6.33 per month.

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