The public is invited to attend a coffee with council session and a budget public meeting on March 6. Coffee with council is at 6 p.m. and the budget session starts at 6:45 p.m.
1. Collingwood’s total proposed budget for the year is $82.5 million. Of that, $27 million is proposed for capital costs (projects, repairs, upgrades, purchases) and $55.5 million is proposed for the operating budget (general costs of running the town’s services, payroll, and etc.). The proposed tax levy for the year is a total of $30,874,774.
2. Money raised by taxes is – for the most part – used in the operating budget. Transportation uses the highest percentage (20 per cent) of tax dollars over any other town department. The Transportation budget is further broken down into public works and engineering, town-owned vehicles and facilities, and public transit. This year, the largest projects proposed in the transportation capital budget is the relocation of the lights at Home Depot to Third and High Street. This project is expected to cost about $3 million and will be funded through reserves and development charges. It will also be front-ended by the developer since the project was not included in the town budget for another few years.
The department is also proposing the town replace and purchase some vehicles including one SUV, one plow, three sidewalk plows and one light duty garbage truck, to the tune of $1.5 million from reserve funds.
3. After transportation, there’s a three-way tie for tax levy allocation. The fire, police, and parks, recreation and culture budget each get 16 per cent of the tax levy for their budgets. Most of which is used in the operating budgets of those departments. Next on the list is general government (town council, corporate management, treasury, clerk services, IT and human resources), and it accounts for 13 per cent of the tax levy. Planning and development, the library and the capital levy (tax dollars allocated to capital projects) are all at five per cent. The remaining four percent is designated “other.”
4. The operating budget – proposed at $55.5 million – is split up similar to the tax levy funds. Public works makes up 21 per cent of the total, general government, fire services, police services and parks, recreation and culture budget are each allocated 17 per cent of the total. Planning gets five per cent and the library budget is four per cent.
5. The capital budget proposed for 2018 is $26.5 million, and will include the Third and High Street intersection upgrades ($3 million), asphalt resurfacing ($500,000), playground replacements ($600,000), Heritage Park improvements ($580,000), Central Park baseball lights ($200,000) and phase two of the Promenade Dock ($150,000). The general governance budget also includes some capital projects including “strategic” land acquisition ($350,000), town hall refurbishment of the brick facade ($200,000), a backup generator ($200,000) and IT support ($172,500). Of the total capital budget, 1.6 per cent ($429,950) will be taken from money collected through taxation.
6. The town’s debt levels for 2018 are estimated at a total of $32,018,730, down from the 2017 total of $36,122,611. According to staff predictions and the debt management plan adopted last year, by 2022 the town’s debt level should be at $17,507,379.
7. Since 2014, the town staff contingent has grown from 179.85 full-time equivalent positions to a proposed 195.42 in 2018.
8. Staff estimate the contribution to the 2018 budget by federal and provincial grants to be about $3.6 million, and the revenue from user fees and other non-tax sources will total $24.8 million. The town will then use $9.7 million from development charges and $13.8 million from reserves to be added to the $30.6 million in property taxes to make up the $82.5 million base budget.
9. According to staff forecasting, the reserve funds will be at $5,069,975 by the end of 2018. Last year the reserve funds totalled approximately $5.6 million.
10. There will be a municipal election Oct. 22, 2018.
