"$56"-*5 4r/&84
UCPR ASKED FOR TAX LEVY SYSTEM IN COMMUNITY POSITIVITY FUND
pays the exact same taxes to Prescott and Russell.” She said that she’d rather cancel the whole program than start debating about how much money should go to each community. Mayor Mario Zanth of Clarence-Rockland said that the tax levy system wouldn’t reduce the amount of funding, as he believed there was a floor of $50,000 in the fund. “$50,000 goes a lot further in Casselman than it does in the six villages of Clarence- Rockland,” he said. “We are all equal, and there’s no one denying that, but when it comes to a fund for community, we have to look at how much community we have.” He said that Clarence-Rockland has a population of 27,000 while Casselman has a population of 4,000, and Clarence-Rockland has a lot more going on than Casselman. He said that Clarence-Rockland council will vote on a similar tax-levy request in the coming weeks, as they were “a little taken aback” by the division of funds. Zanth said he wanted to clarify that the fund isn’t a sponsorship program, but rather a community program. The funds may come from the UCPR, but they are still coming from taxes. Lajoie said that she agreed with “eve- rything that [Zanth was] saying”, but that altering the amount would still degrade the original resolution of equal division. She disagreed with going over $50,000 as much as going under, because $50,000 to each of the eight municipalities is $1,600,000 over four years, and “we can’t all of a sudden say we want [more] and leveling the playing field takes away the concept of universality at the upper tier of government.” UCPR Chief Administrator Stéphane Pari- sien said council could leave the $50,000 amount as is and look at setting policy and criteria to better mandate the distribution of funds. Further discussion of a tax levy-based system, he said, could done during budget discussions in autumn. The resolution was received for conside- ration in the future.
positivity program passed by the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR). A total of $400,000 has been set aside in the UCPR’s 2023 budget for the program, which has been equally divided between the eight member municipalities for a total of $50,000 per municipality. Russell Township council was concerned that this equal division is unfair, seeing as the Township of Russell accounts for 23 per cent of the Prescott-Russell Tax Levy but will only receive 12.5 per cent of the community positivity funds. Russell council resolved to request that the UCPR implement a tax Levy-based funding model rather than simply dividing the funds equally. Mayor Pierre Leroux brought the request forward during the UCPR’s Committee of the Whole meeting on March 8, although he mentioned he didn’t agree with it. The fund is meant to benefit the community as a whole, whether to build infrastructure, ensure open access to events, or to beautify public spaces. Mayor Genevieve Lajoie of Casselman stated that as far as she knew, the UCPR is the only second-tier government to offer a program like the Community Positivity Fund. She said that a tax levy system wouldn’t be appropriate as the money is supposed to be used to promote and improve Pres- cott-Russell as a whole, not just individual communities. She said that the original idea was that each member community received the same amount of money no matter the tax base, and that bringing in a tax levy-based system now would degrade the original decision and the spirit of the Positivity Fund. “Right now we’re already having in-house debating about money, and I’m not interested in being on the fence about whether my funding will get cut next year because I’m in Casselman and I have less population. I’m not interested in coming back here and fighting over money year after year at a table where we’re not all equal,” she said. “If we look at the concept of universality, Casselman pays the same amount of taxes as Russell does. Every person individually
Le canton de Russell a demandé un système basé sur le prélèvement fiscal pour le Fonds de distribution communautaire. -Photo d’archives put in place for the distribution of the Community Positivity Fund. CHRISTOPHER SMITH christopher.smith@eap.on.ca
During the regular meeting on February 27, Russell Township council passed a resolution regarding the new community
Russell Township sent a request to the UCPR that a tax levy system be
PLUS D’ARGENT POUR LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE HAWKESBURY
MAPLE WEEKEND DE L’ÉRABLE
The Hawkesbury Public Library will receive a 3.95-per-cent increase in the municipal contribution to its operation budget. The library board asked for a 4.73-per-cent increase in a presentation to council at the end of February, two weeks after council had approved the 2023 municipal budget. —file photo
PURE MAPLE SYRUP SIROP D’ÉRABLE PUR
FARMS TO VISIT/FERME À VISITER: APRIL 1 ST & 2 ND 10AM- 4PM / 1 ER ET 2 AVRIL 10H- 16h
février, avec une augmentation de 3,95 % de l’allocation à la bibliothèque municipale. La demande du conseil de la bibliothèque s’élève à 24 901 dollars, tandis que l’allo- cation municipale pour 2023 est de 20 806 dollars. L’approbation de la demande du conseil de bibliothèque signifierait qu’il faudrait revoir le budget municipal pour trou- ver l’argent supplémentaire, soit en puisant dans d’autres sources, soit en coupant dans d’autres projets ou programmes. Lors de sa séance du 13 mars, le conseil a accepté la recommandation du service des finances de maintenir à 3,95 % l’augmen- tation du budget pour le soutien municipal à la bibliothèque.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Dunvegan Gold 1717 Blyth Road, Dunvegan, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer Grandpa’s Sugar Shack 1394 County Road 7, PO Box 25, Morewood, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer Erabliere La Cabane des Gars - Sugar Bush Inc . 4251 County Road 16, Fournier, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer, Wholesaler - Eastern Kemptville Campus - Agroforestry Centre (On the Bend Sugar Shack) 2627 Bedell Road, Kemptville, Ont.
Sand Road Maple Farm 17190 Sand Road, Moosecreek, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer, Pancake House, Wholesaler -Eastern Region Cabane á Sucre Rollin Sugar Shack 5618 Dunning Road, Navan, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer Grampie’s Sugar Shack 3788 County Road 8, Chesterville, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer La Sucrerie A Frank Sugar Shack 17049 McNeil Road, Moose Creek, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer
Il y aura plus d’argent dans le budget municipal pour la Bibliothèque publique de Hawkesbury, mais pas autant que le souhaitait le conseil d’administration de la bibliothèque. Le conseil d’administration de la biblio- thèque a présenté son budget de fonction- nement pour 2023 au conseil municipal de Hawkesbury, le 27 février, en demandant une augmentation de 4,73 % de la contribution du fonds de soutien municipal à la bibliothèque. Le budget municipal a été approuvé le 13
Maple Syrup Producer Wightman Sugarbush 5488 1st Line Road, Lancaster, Ont. Maple Syrup Producer
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator