Perth Council’s committee held an almost 4 hour meeting to dive into the numbers on next year’s budget and resulting property tax hikes.
Dealing with dwindling reserves and increased capital and operating costs, brought up a discussion on borrowing.
Councillor Jim Boldt provided this warning about relying too heavily that form of financing.
The Town currently pays $786,782 to service the principle and interest on its debt and that number is expected to rise to $722K next year. One major project that was deferred from 2025 was a new public works garage with an estimated price tag of $4M.
Councillor Gary Waterfield said that came with a big question mark that was troubling.
The recommended 7% tax hike plus a 1% capital levy would mean an extra $279 for a home provincially assessed at $350K.
The proposed budget also included a 6% jump in water/sewer bills which would add $66 annually.
Mayor Judy Brown warned against pushing expenses to future councils.
Council’s committee voted to recommend final approval of the budget at the Dec 9th meeting and to reduce any mayoral veto time period to 0 days.
Story by Brian Turner