After some fine tuning early last week, Wellington County councillors are considering a 2.59 percent increase in the county tax levy this year.
But the final figure, and whether the budget can be passed at the Jan. 28 regular meeting, may depend on the result of an arbitration hearing between the county and Guelph city expected at any time.
The worst-case scenario, treasurer Craig Dyer told councillors at a special meeting Jan. 19, is that the county would have to come up with about $4 million, plus deal with a retroactive deficit from 2009.
“We certainly have a range of options to deal with any result we get, good or bad,” Dyer said. He and finance department staff will have to go through the result, come up with options and analyze the impact it will have on the 2010 budget and the county’s five-year financial plan.
But Dyer doesn’t believe the budget process should be held up waiting for the outcome of arbitration. “I’m still optimistic that approval can be given when county council meets next week,” he said Jan. 19.
Dyer expected to be presenting options to councillors on Jan. 28.
The arbitration hearing is to determine cost-sharing between the county and city of Guelph over social services and ambulance services.
Two councillors were concerned about how the outcome of arbitration would affect the budget, Erin Ward Councillor Lou Maieron asking about a worst-case scenario, and Erin Mayor Rod Finnie asking about contingency plans.
If the county has to deal with the worst-case scenario, Dyer said the extra $4 million could be added to the tax levy, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, made up for in spending cuts - or various options between the two.
As for coming up with contingency plans, “the short answer is, absolutely,” Dyer said.
The county’s response will depend on the amount, and the effective date - whether it is retroactive into 2009. Then there’s the impact on the 2010 budget, and into the future in the five-year plan, he said.
If passed as it is now, the 2010 budget includes $70,055,900 coming from property taxpayers - more than half the total property tax bill in Centre Wellington goes to pay for county services.
The 2.59 percent increase translates into an increase of $53 over the 2009 county portion of the tax bill for the average homeowner.
County staff and councillors spent the week before the Jan. 19 meeting making small changes to the budget, which was presented in early January with a 2.73 percent increase.
Some small sources of additional revenue were added, small expenses cut, and $1,300 added to community grants - which resulted in the new increase.
In October, the proposed increase was more than 5 percent, Dyer said.
“We’ve had an excellent week of committee meetings,” Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj said. “I think we have a good news story here today.”
Among the items included in the budget and revised five-year plan:
• $4 million in repairs to bridges and culverts.
• $6 million in road paving.
• $1.4 million in road reconstruction work.
• Work on the stairway at the trestle bridge over the county road at Aboyne, following the approval of a stimulus grant.
• The county archives project is expected to finish this year; the budget includes some additional staff hours, and money this year and next for roofing of the documents storage.
• Funding for the Fergus library branch is slated for 2012-13.
• Phase 2 of the Fergus affordable housing project - provided a grant application is approved.