Centre Wellington's budget is not just about numbers and projects, finance committee chair Fred Morris says.
"There is a plan here," Morris said at the start of budget discussions Friday. "It has a lot to do with the success of this community, its growth and its future."
The draft budget presented Friday includes a 5.5 percent tax increase, which would translate into an increase of $42 on the tax bill of an average $256,000 home.
Much of that increase is related to a $308,500 cut in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, a grant the township gets from the provincial government to help cover amalgamation costs, a $285,000 increase in salaries and benefits, an $81,000 increase in insurance premiums, and $128,000 less revenue from interest and at the CW Sportsplex.
One of the biggest challenges in putting the draft budget together was dealing with a cut to the OMPF grant, CAO Michael Wood said.
Originally, the township heard the province would reduce the grant by $1.3 million, Wood said, but after lobbying by municipalities across the province - including township Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj - the province decided to cut back only $300,000.
But that $300,000 is still "a huge loss for Centre Wellington" that staff has tried to deal with in the budget, he said.
"As we look forward to next year, the province has again told us (the grant) will be cut … This time, it's not $1.3 million, it's $745,000," he said.
But municipalities are again lobbying for a reversal, and Wood recommended councillors not "let that issue creep into any discussions on the 2010 budget" - because the announced cut may not even happen.
In a later discussion, Ward 5 Councillor Walt Visser disagreed. Debating the merits of a sidewalk charge similar to what people pay for street lighting, Visser said in effect the move simply passes the provincial grant cut onto taxpayers.
The $300,000 cut is an opportunity "to start looking at what services we can live without … how to do more with less - in anticipation of future reductions," he said.
Earlier, Wood said one of the guidelines staff had used in preparing the budget was maintaining current service levels the township provides - not cutting back and not adding service.
Staff also wanted to "reflect the general economic condition our community has experienced," Wood said, while also aligning the budget with the goals set down in the township's strategic plan.
But Ward 3 Councillor Robert Foster says the township has a "spending problem."
"We have to live within our means and we have a spending problem," he said during a break in presentations. "We haven't been living within our means."
He said his own tax bill has increased by 25 percent over the past three years - despite budgeted tax increases of two and three percent.
In his opening statement, Morris urged councillors to respect the wisdom of democracy when defending their beliefs about spending priorities.
"I know at some point each of us will have a different priority from some of our colleagues," he said. "None of us individually smarter than all of us collectively."
Among the financial highlights of 2009, Morris cited $950,000 in township debt paid down, and the use of $1.5 million of revenue from the OLG Slots facility in Elora - money leveraged to do several major projects, including $1.3 million rebuilding of Church Street, $2.3 million in repairs and upgrades to the CW Sportsplex, and $3.6 million rebuilding Sideroad 19.
Because of the Slots revenue set aside for infrastructure, the township was able to take advantage of the federal-provincial economic stimulus money without going into significant debt like many other municipalities had to, he said.
"Progress comes at a price, and we still have a lot more to do," he said. The 2010 budget is part of the process to "build a prosperous municipality … not just for today but for future generations."
Budget committee meetings ran most of Friday and were expected to continue through Tuesday, March 2. A third meeting will go ahead March 8 if it's necessary.