Tax increase rings it at just under 3% in King Twp.

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 29, 2015
By Tim Kelly

What Mayor Steve Pellegrini wants, Mayor Steve Pellegrini usually gets in King Township.

His Worship told Township staff in December a 5-per cent tax hike was just not on.

After a few hours of hacking and slashing Monday evening at Township Hall, egged on by councillors Bill Cober and Linda Pabst, the Township’s starting budget increase of 3.99 per cent was sliced to 2.97 per cent.

It didn’t come without a bit of pain and suffering, most of which was felt by Township Fire Chief Jim Wall.

The chief saw his goal of installing sprinklers at all three of the township’s fire halls this year cut to just one.

The three-hall cost of $120,000 was dropped to just $40,000, a significant tax savings.

Other chopping block casualties were the proposed hiring of an engineering technician for the growing township at a cost of $56,000 and the loss of the second annual street cleaning ($23,000).

Township staff have been asked to find another $39,000 in operating cost savings.

What does it mean to you, the taxpayer?

The local tax increase of 2.97 per cent translates to $58 more per year for an average assessed King Township property of $614,000.

However, when blended with a proposed regional tax increase of 3.79 per cent and an expected zero per cent education tax, the overall tax increase should be around 2.69 per cent over your tax bill in 2014.

Much of the talk, and it was alarming at times, centred around King’s 10-year capital plan, which suggests the Township will be hard-pressed to maintain its infrastructure over time.

Treasurer Allan Evelyn, in detailed charts, showed council and the public that, based on current forecasts, there is a massive gap between what the Township needs to put away to repair and replace infrastructure and what it is actually saving.

His projections are that almost $18 million per year is needed over 10 years to keep up with infrastructure (roads, buildings, sewers, etc) demands, while the town currently is investing only $7 million.

For example, road works alone are expected to cost $115 million in the next decade, far in excess of the $70 million the Township is expected to raise from all sources: development charges, tax support to capital reserves and debt financing.

“If the municipality doesn’t start to make a very conscious decision to begin to support its hard surface infrastructure, it’s going to start to have very deficient roads that will become safety issues,” said Evelyn.

He didn’t mince his words when speaking directly to council.

“There’s no way we can support a 10-year budget of $179 million (for capital projects only) through operating sources for our capital program,” he said. “There will need to be additional reliance on debt, and making sure the development charge contributions are adequately aligned with the capital program. There’s a need to make sure that we’re leveraging what reserve funds we have in place to support these programs.”

To help council understand how better to deal with the huge gap in what’s needed and what’s currently provided, staff will return later in the year with a comprehensive asset management plan to be incorporated in the 2016 budget plan.