Kincardine finalizes budget with 7.28% rate hike to municipal portion of tax bill

Kincardine ratepayers are looking at a rate increase of 7.28 per cent on the municipal portion of their tax bill, after council finalized its 2017 budget last night (Feb. 6).

That equates to a hike of $101.85 for the average residential assessment of $244,000. With the Bruce County levy and education tax included, the blended tax-rate increase is 3.7 per cent, which equates to $103.18 for an average residential assessment.

In committee-of-the-whole, treasurer Roxana Baumann brought council up-to-date on the items that were decided at the last meeting, Jan. 23, and what issues still needed to be resolved in the budget.

First off, Baumann said council must officially decide whether to raise the price of bag tags to $2.50 from $2, effective immediately, resulting in increased revenue of $53,000.

Other items stemming from the previous meeting included:
 

• Discarding the plan to hire a part-time staff resource for the arts, culture and heritage committee, saving $29,000
• Maintaining the fire prevention officer as a part-time position, saving $13,245
• Providing a $10,000 grant to the Kincardine Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion in 2017, with an additional $10,000 grant in 2018
• Deferring the second phase of the wind turbine noise study
• Maintaining funding of three major festivals, at $3,000 each, for a total of $9,000
• Removing the Hawthorne Community Clinic HVAC (heating and air-conditioning) unit from the capital budget, saving $20,000
• Removing the replacement of heat pumps at the old Westario Power building from the capital budget, saving $15,000
• The chief administrative officer recruitment costs have been reduced by $15,000
• Adding the Paisley fire agreement which was reinstated last week, at a cost of $51,400

This resulted in a revised tax-rate increase of 8.97 per cent, and a blended rate increase of 4.56 per cent. The revised capital budget included a net contribution into the Lifecycle Reserve Fund of $117,967.

Baumann said staff will continue to look for potential grant opportunities to provide a staff resource for the arts, heritage and culture committee.

She clarified that use of development charges is for additions to the asset inventory due to growth. Therefore, the money cannot be used for tennis court refurbishment. That work can be funded by the parkland trust reserve fund, the Armow Wind community benefits reserve fund, and the $20,000 from the Kincardine Tennis Club.

Regarding a question about using space in the lower level of the Hawthorne Community Clinic instead of extensive renovations, to the tune of $600,000, Baumann said the pharmacy there has a 10-year lease, to 2023. The rental agreement also provides the municipality with revenue of $47,000 annually.

Baumann told council that staff has been advised that the EMR system and BpTRU medical devices in the 2016 capital budget for the medical clinic, have exceeded the budget by $7,505. If that cost is funded from the medical clinic reserve fund, that leaves less money for the clinic renovations.

She said that costs associated with converting Bruce Telecom to a municipal services corporation could be paid by Bruce Telecom through two options:
 

• Bruce Telecom includes the conversion costs in its 2017 budget which has yet to be approved by council, reducing Kincardine's 2017 legal costs by $200,000 and dropping the tax-rate increase by 1.7 per cent. However, Bruce Telecom's operating surplus would be impacted and its 2018 dividend to the municipality would also be impacted.
• The municipality receives an early transfer of the 2018 dividend, or a portion of it (ie. $200,000), allowing the municipality to reduce its tax-rate increase by 1.7 per cent. However, the dividend would be reduced by $200,000 which could negatively impact the 2018 tax rate.

Baumann recommended the first option.

Other capital projects to consider, she said, are the Whitney Crawford Community Centre in Tiverton at $6-million; Kincardine Arts Centre Phase 3 renovations at $465,000; Kincardine Minor Soccer concession building at $230,000; Kincardine Adult Soccer lighting at $92,000; Stonehaven Park playground at $42,350; and the Inverhuron Pavilion at $325,000.

“First of all, let me compliment you and your staff on this report,” said councillor Maureen Couture. “This provides us with all the information in a nutshell, and all the items we have to deliberate.”

Councillor Randy Roppel asked where the $6-million figure came from for the cost of a new community centre in Tiverton.

Baumann said it came from the architect.

Chief building official Michele Barr said it's a ballpark figure, based on a sketch submitted to the architect, and was being used for budgetary purposes.

Councillor Laura Haight asked what the physician group pays in rent at the medical clinic.

Baumann said last year, the rent was $61,000, and the Family Health Team paid $37,000; she noted the Family Health Team is not contributing to the renovation cost.

Deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert said the medical clinic is fairly new, and questioned why it requires $600,000 in renovations.

“It's to accommodate the new physicians,” said Baumann.

Chief administrative officer Murray Clarke added that the retiring physicians had larger practices of 2,000 patients, but the new physicians are taking on only 800-1,000 patients.

“We are requiring more doctors to take on these large case loads,” he said. “With a full complement of 13 physicians, we are turning administrative space at the west end, into clinical space. And, we have just signed up another new physician today. The clinic is a turn-key operation to provide the space for physicians to work.”

Barr added that it seems like a lot of money, but there is extensive work to be done, including the reconfiguration of space into doctor's offices and examination rooms, as well as electrical and mechanical work. “It's a very delicate building, and the renovations would be done while there are patients in the building.”

Committee-of-the-whole approved the increase to the cost of bag tags to $2.50; and that was later endorsed by council, meaning the price increase takes effect immediately, not March 1.

It was agreed to have Bruce Telecom put $200,000 toward the conversion to a corporation.

Also approved was using funds from the health care reserve to pay for the unfunded portion of the medical clinic renovations, about $225,000.

As for the additional capital projects, none was approved for this year.

Mayor Anne Eadie said council should be honest with the people regarding the community centre in Tiverton; at $6-million, it's just too expensive.

“All these projects should be considered at a planning meeting,” said Couture. “We should have a committee sit down and look at them and devise how they could be funded with the Armow Wind money over the next 18 years.”

Haight said she would rather have recreation director Karen Kieffer draw up her Parks and Recreation Master Plan first, and see where the needs are, not just the “wants.”

“With respect to the money from Armow Wind and the DGR project (Ontario Power Generation's Deep Geologic Repository for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste), I would rather we sit down and consider ways to make those funds sustainable, and then we could fund these projects over time,” she said. “Also, there's never built into these projects, the human resource cost associated with them. We should have Roxana (Baumann) come up with the maximum use of these two revenue streams.”

Council agreed to have staff bring back a report in March or April, regarding a committee to consider the ideas put forward by Couture and Haight.

Committee-of-the-whole agreed with the final budget and it will come forward as a bylaw for council approval at a future meeting.