" $ 5 6 " - * 5 4 r / & 8 4 BUDGET NUMBER CRUNCHING BEGINS FOR UCPR
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
taxation of rental properties. The finance department will present the revised budget plan at UCPR council’s /PWFNCFSTFTTJPO
increase for the 2020 budget to three per cent. Mayors Stephane Sarrazin of Alfred- 1MBOUBHFOFU5PXOTIJQ /PSNBOE3JPQFMPG Champlain Township, and Pierre Leroux of Russell Township voted against the reduction
directive. Council also directed department staff to lower the property taxation rate for multi- resident buildings to 1.9 per cent and to start removing the vacancy discounts allowed on
“Make it lower” was the comment from Prescott-Russell’s eight mayors about the tax rate increase proposed in the draft report of the United Counties of Prescott-Russell 2020 budget. Finance director Julie Ménard-Brault presented the preliminary version of the budget during the October 23 regular session of UCPR council. “The last five years have had an impact on our 2020 budget (plan),” Ménard-Brault said, warning council that there may be little room for adjustment. She noted that the UCPR had a $16 mil- lion shortfall in revenue over the past five years, because of demands to keep the tax rate increase either low at between two and three per cent, or non-existent at zero per cent. This has resulted in budget-balancing strategies that involved drawing more on reserve funds to cover the cost of some programs and projects, and delaying some projects and programs or reducing their scope. UCPR staff also had to deal with past surprise cost-cutting initiatives of the Ford Progressive Conservative government. The 2020 budget draft proposed a 3.3 per cent tax increase to cover daily operation costs, proposed capital projects, contracted salary increases for UCPR employees, and other expenses. For the average homeowner in the Prescott-Russell region, that would mean about a $36 increase in property taxes on a house valued at about $267,000. Ménard-Brault noted that finance depart- ment staff exercised caution in projecting provincial revenue for the budget, because of the Ontario government’s own budget restraint planning on support for social service and other municipal programs. The provincial government has indicated it may look at more revisions to municipal funding support formulas but no specific details are available yet. UCPR council directed the finance de- partment to find ways to reduce the tax
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Julie Ménard-Brault a présenté la première ébauche du budget 2020 des Comtés unis de Prescott et Russell (CUPR), le 23 octobre, avec une proposition d’augmentation de 3,3 %.. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
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