By the middle of the month, Russell Township will have the jump on most other municipalities with their budget planning. The township’s 2010 budget is already for council to sign off at the February regular session.
What pleases Mayor Ken Hill most is that Chief Administrative Officer Jean Leduc was able to make good on all the demands of council during the last draft report on the budget. That includes a one per cent cap on any property tax increase without any cuts or sacrifices to existing programs and services.
“He made a phenomenal presentation,” Mayor Hill said during a phone interview following the Feb. 1 committee of the whole session. “He met to the limits the directions given by council.”
The scheduled January public discussion session on the budget was cut short after Leduc presented a draft report that suggested a possible three per cent increase in the property tax rate to cover both operations and capital works for the municipality for the coming year. Council ordered administration and department heads to go back and review their numbers again and come up with a budget proposal that would meet six conditions.
Those half-dozen conditions included: a maximum one per cent property tax rate increase, if necessary and creation of an infrastructure renewal section in the budget where all capital works projects designated for the fiscal year would go. Any new capital projects approved for 2010 would have as their spending limit the infrastructure renewal fund and no more and staff would have to provide a complete financing plan for any projects deemed necessary that exceeded the limit of the fund.
Other conditions for the 2010 budget are: maintain all existing services and programs at their present levels, any variances to expenses that are greater than $5000 compared to their levels in the 2009 budget must have a written explanation for council to review, any surpluses from 2009 go into the general reserve fund, and any financial burdens on the township resulting from budget decisions of the United Counties of Prescott-Russell must go into the 2010 municipal as received.
Mayor Hill noted that the services and programs guarantee had one further condition of its own. Administration could have a hiring freeze “but no layoffs” as part of any cost-cutting measures to maintain those services.
“This was a very challenging budget,” Hill said. “Council is acknowledging the economic times that we are in. There won’t be any senseless spending.”
The mayor expressed confidence that the proposed 2010 budget, which now comes up for ratification on Feb. 16, will meet existing needs for the community and allow some room for continued growth in capital works through projects like expansion of the Russell sewage lagoon system.
With a one per cent cap on the property tax rate, that means an average home in Russell Township will see a levy of $594 for every $100,000 assessed value this year as compared to $588 per $100,000 assessed value in the 2009 budget. Businesses, farmlands, and other properties have different tax rates.