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Budget planning preparations begin it may get shifted over to early September depending on the final budget planning report from administration.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Summer break begins for members of the City of Clarence-Rockland council. But they have a large financial planningmatter waiting for them when their committee meetings schedule resumes in August. Council has a workshop session in store for the start of the 2017 municipal budget discussion and planning review.The works- hop portion may take place in August or
“This is a budget guideline,” said Mayor Guy Desjardins, as council reviewed the preliminary planning report during the June 20 committee of the whole session. City Administrator Helen Collier noted during the discussion that it might be best to hold the budget workshop session for council in September to allow for both sche- duling of attendance at the annual Associa-
Casselman mayor writes Premier
commercial buildings, hospitals, offices that are heated with natural gas?” Mayor Lamadeleine compared the cost to the average for electricity versus natural for home heating. He stated that 19 kiloWatt-hours of elec- tricity a year for home heating resulted in a bill at the end of the year worth more than $2700 to the average Ontario homeowner. The cost to heat a house with 19 cubic metres of natural gas over a year’s time was $668. He also compared the $838 cost to ope- rate an electric water heater for a year in the average home versus $194 for a year with a natural gas system. Casselman’s mayor told the premier that if the province chose to pressure more homeowners and businesses to convert to electricity, it would put unreasonable pres- sure on many residents who have to follow tight budgets and that some Ontario busi- nesses might end up shutting down. Lamadeleine has sent copies of his letter to all of the county councils in Ontario and other municipal organizations.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
There was lots of verbal support for Cassel- manMayor Conrad Lamadeleine’s letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne, about keeping natural gas as a home heating option for the province. Lamadeleine sent his letter last month to the premier. He made a copy of it available at the June 8 committee of the whole session of counties council as part of his campaign to lobby other municipalities for support. His fellowmayors in the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) had no arguments against the sentiment of the letter. “Reading the newspapers and listening to the news nowadays is very scary with your Liberal government’s plan conside- ring eliminating natural gas in favour of electricity,” stated Mayor Lamadeleine in his letter to Wynne. “Howmany people are using natural gas to heat their houses, water heaters, stoves, barbecues, etc.?What about the farmers and all other users of natural gas,
Mayor Guy Desjardins and the rest of council have some financial planning work waiting for them after the summer break when the planning process begins for next year’s municipal budget. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
tion of Municipalities of Ontario conference and also some administrative staff summer vacation plans. Council members spent about a half hour discussing whether it might be possible to avoid any sizeable increase in themunicipal tax rate as part of next year’s budget. Finance Director Rob Kehoe noted that Part A of the budget guideline report presented to council lists the non-discretionary budget items which the city cannot avoid seeing increase in cost as part of the 2017 budget.
“Part B starts to look at possible solu- tions,” Kehoe said, adding that those are the discretionary expense items that council and administration can adjust during the budget discussions. “There are solutions,” he said, “which we’ll get into during the budget discussions.” Council approved receipt of the guide- lines report for later review as part of the 2017 budget review and planning process when it begins after the summer break.
Cet investissement dans l’innovation et l’amélioration de l’accès aux soins de santé dont ils ont besoin, pour tous les habitants de l’Ontario, signifie : • 700 nouveaux docteurs et spécialistes • 35 hôpitaux actuellement en voie de rénovation, de modernisation ou d’expansion • 250 millions de dollars investis dans les soins à domicile et en milieu communautaire • 345 millions de dollars investis pour réduire les temps d’attente et améliorer l’accès aux soins
Cette année, le financement de notre système de santé va augmenter de plus d’un milliard de dollars.
Pour un système de soins de santé vigoureux aujourd’hui et demain.
ontario.ca/meilleurssoins
Payé par le gouvernement de l’Ontario
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