PORT HOOD: Although it was not unanimous, Inverness Municipal Council has approved its 2022-2023 General Operating Budget.
During the regular monthly meeting on June 2 in Port Hood, Finance Director Tanya Tibbo told council the residential and resource property rate of $1.05 and the commercial rate of $1.91 have been maintained.
Tibbo told council total revenues were $19,736,200, and expenses were at $20,499,500. She said total financing and transfers required to balance the budget was $763,300 which included the surplus from the 2022 fiscal year.
Tibbo said 89 per cent of revenues are from property taxes and payments in lieu of taxes, which includes residential, commercial, and resource taxes, taxes on acreage, business assessments, fire department area rates, deed transfer taxes, and the wind turbine tax.
The other revenue pieces encompass grants in lieu of taxes, services provided to other governments, sale of services, own-source revenue, unconditional transfers from other governments, and conditional transfers from other governments, Tibbo noted.
Total expenses are at $20,499,500, with an 11.04 per cent increase for RCMP costs, Tibbo said.
“Thirty-seven per cent of the total expenditures in this budget are mandatory contributions, that’s $7,510,200,” she said. “That is just for corrections, libraries, RCMP, roads, and education.”
Of the total expenditures, 14 per cent is for general government services, which Tibbo said includes legislative services, administration, financial management, taxation, communication, debt services, municipal buildings, and grants to organizations.
“We increased our grants to organizations by $47,000 in this budget, so that budget is now at $147,000,” she confirmed.
Tibbo said 19 per cent of expenses come from environmental health services, which takes in police protection, bylaw enforcement, hydrant services, fire protection, and emergency measures.
The other aspects of budget expenses entail general government services, protective services, transportation services, environmental development services, recreation and culture services, and extraordinary items, Tibbo stated.
As far as area rates, the only changes are a five cent increase for the West Bay Road Volunteer Fire Department and a decrease in District 1 waste water services from $.0374 in 2022 to $0.367 in 2023, while the wastewater services area rate for Districts 3 to 6 dropped from $0.363 to $0.356.
Tibbo said the budget allots $1,077,150 in grants to organizations that provide services for residents of the county, not including the $326,500 in property tax exemptions to not-for-profit and charitable groups.
With lifting of public health restrictions, Tibbo said additional money has been set aside for new recreation programs such as Disc Golf, the Atlantic Outdoor Forum, the Race Network, and the Community Playbox Project.
The budget involves 104 municipal staff, which takes in contract, seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees, Tibbo said.
“There a number of Co-op students, as well as summer students, and term positions for some of the initiatives that we received funding for, and some are just in the general operating budget.”
District 4 Councillor John MacLennan voted against the budget. With costs going up for residents, he added that this is not the time to move money around or raise taxes.
“A few weeks ago, we had one account we had to take $2.5 million to pay some bills, pay staff, then today we took money out of another account. The only way to do it – and I didn’t want to raise taxes – is to either raise taxes or you start laying off staff,” he added. “The price of everything is going up and why should we hit them up with municipal taxes. The biggest thing we have to start cutting back, watch our spending, and watch it in a big way.”