CENTRE WELLINGTON – Centre Wellington has decided to move forward with a 7.38 per cent tax increase in 2024, pending final council ratification.
Township treasurer Adam McNabb says this increase will cause a jump for the average tax-payer locally.
Several items of interest led to the increase dipping from its original draft form, when it sat at 8.54 per cent.
Notably, during Thursday’s deliberations, council decided to reduce the impact of termite management down to 0.8 per cent impact on taxation. Originally, that number was above one per cent.
Annual OLG funding will be directed to termite management, which has been a long-spanning topic of discussion this calendar year.
That wasn’t the only item to peel back the increase, but Mayor Shawn Watters notes this was a trying budget year.
One much-discussed $14,000 item was removed as a part of deliberations Friday.
The approved recommendation was to remove the rental of temporary washrooms for peak tourism season in Elora’s downtown core.
Also causing the taxation increase to dip was a plan by staff to phase in a new council remuneration policy by spreading it out between the years 2024 and 2025.
The Centre Wellington Sportsplex on the other hand, saw some dollars directed towards upgrades.
CAO Dan Wilson told the Grand at 101 Thursday $30,000 from 2025 has been brought into 2024 for basketball nets in the hall at the sportsplex.
Also, council will be accelerating seating heating in the sportsplex pad B in the amount of $35,000.
As a result of these moves, the township will be delaying a couple of tourism projects; an office renovation worth $26,000 and a washroom design of $50,000, both put off until 2025.
McNabb says while he can’t tell the future, the coming years will likely see the tax rate drop.
The final ratification from council is expected December 18th.
