ARICHAT: Richmond Municipal Council approved a balanced budget for 2018-2019.
During a special meeting on April 27, councillors voted in favour of the $14,032,000 budget which maintains residential taxes at 80 cents per $100 of assessment, while the commercial rate holds steady at $2.10 per $100 of assessment.
“We see it as a fiscally responsible budget,” Richmond CAO Kent MacIntyre told the special meeting last Friday night.
Highlights included revenue from increases in assessment, as well as from the Deed Transfer Tax. The residential tax base in Richmond County increased by $106,295, while the commercial base went down by $32,997. In 2017, there were 188 building permits issued totaling $18 million in new construction, renovations and additions.
The budget also included $575,000 for sustainable infrastructure improvements, as well as investments in economic development and communications. At the top of this list are plans for a new serviced road for access to the Headland Cultivation Company in Lennox Passage, as well as plans to open 14 new lots in the light industrial park. There will be repairs undertaken to the Arichat/Petit de Grat water and sewage treatment plant, the municipal building and the waste management facility, and there are plans for new road signage, an ATV trail improvement study and window replacement at the Petit de Grat library. Other projects subject to approval include broadband and cellular infrastructure for Fourchu and Dundee, a beautification and streetscape program and the Arichat sidewalk project.
Another item of good news was increased revenue from the sale of metals and organics, interest revenue, recycling education, and funding from the province. Public works revenues increased by $65,000 due to a budgeted increase in tipping fees and the metal reclamation review at the waste management facility.
Richmond Chief Financial Officer Jason Martell explained the municipality held three lengthy budget meetings.
“Staff are proud of this budget,” Martell told council on April 27. “This is the best budget deliberation session I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
One of the biggest highlights of the budget includes a revised grant structure under which grant funding has been reduced by $205,000.
In addition to rising education, housing and transportation costs, police protection costs increased by 1.3 per cent from last year.
Public works expenditures increased by $111,514 because of the landfill closure reserve, a leachate treatment study for the compost facility, equipment purchases and an increase in labour costs due to the operation of the new water treatment plant.
Recreation expenditures also increased by $3,230 as a result of a new on-line registration system and an expanding equipment loan program.
Last August, councillors passed their budget six weeks after a series of false starts resulted in a defeat for the county’s fiscal plan at the municipality’s annual general meeting the previous month.
Councillors attending a special council meeting on August 16 at the Richmond Municipal Building in Arichat voted in favour of a budget that maintained tax rates at 80 cents, while the commercial rate held steady at $2.80.
Echoing the sentiments of councillors Gilbert Boucher and Alvin Martell, Warden Brian Marchand was more than satisfied with the budget process but considering some of the fiscal pressures, he remained cautious.
“Some of the fixed costs that are there, the Nova Scotia housing costs, that’s a cost we’re going to look into a little further, the finance people will look into that,” Marchand said. “Policing costs are going up, so there was some discussion around that. School board costs, we all understand, those are going up as well.
“Another one that we did look at was the Property Valuation Services costs. Those are quite high. I believe, from discussions with the other mayors and wardens that they’re all going to be looking at that cost.”