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Counties budget signed after split-vote
As we continue to indulge in the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, serious questions confront us. Among them – are there craft fairs everywhere? Is it crass to give cash? Is it both crass and cheap to re-gift stuff you could not sell at a garage sale, or foist off on a “loved” one? Is it wiser to opt for the fakes or stick with the natural Christmas tree? The answer to most of these queries is “Yes!” But the tree question is less clear-cut. Artificial, virtual or real evergreen? This dilemma faces shoppers every time they ven- ture into the marketplace. Ubiquitous fake trees have a certain charm, primarily because their needles never dry out and litter the floor. But real boughs have a lot going for them, too. “You can’t deck the halls without the perfect Christmas tree. Every kid knows that’s where Santa puts the presents. For adults, it’s the fragrant hallmark of Christmas past, present and future,” reads a release from a coalition of tree huggers. The Ontario government, the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario, the Ontario Forestry Association and Trees Ontario are teaming up to support sustainably grown Ontario Christmas trees. By the way, December 7 was National Christmas Tree Day, a day to celebrate the benefits of buying natural Christmas trees. “Sawing down a Christmas tree hones your turkey-carving technique,” say tree pro- moters. Despite the movement towards facsimiles, over 500 Ontario farmers produce more than one million Christmas trees each year. Thirty-five per cent of Ontario consumers buy real Christmas trees every year. Real trees are all-natural, and there is no assembly required. They smell great. Christ- mas trees truly are a breath of fresh air because they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. Plus, the evergreen can be recycled. After the holidays, put that dry tree outside, where it will provide a home for wild animals and birds. And the wood can later be used to spark a bonfire. The real thing is still hot, as evidenced by the theft of 150 evergreens from a tree farm recently. A tree is one of the few things people are not likely to purchase online. Retailers who rely so heavily on Christmas sales “to make their year,” are constantly faced with competition from e-commerce. Canadians spent $19 billion on online purchases in 2012, an increase of 25 per cent over internet buys in 2010. Most people used the internet to arrange travel and buy concert tickets. Retail sales account for only four per cent of Canadian online purchases. That is because consumers prefer to buy through the United States, where the prices and shipping costs are lower. The appeal of online shopping is a no-brainer. Shoppers can sit in the comfort of their homes and spend to their heart’s content, without having to deal with crowds, traffic, salt, slush, other people’s whiny kids. Yet, obviously there are many consumers who still enjoy the more conventional shopping experience of buying from a vendor, face-to-face, live and in person. We tend to remember the nega- tive encounters with pushy, indifferent and/or clueless salespeople, but we must also note that, for the most part, in most places, friendly courteous service is delivered with a smile. For a change of pace, there are the craft sales. Like the evergreen, the holiday arts and crafts market remains a popular fixture of the Yuletide yuck-fest. “Unique” is the best way to summarize the creativity and versatility that are on display at these special events. Bottom line: If you are still seeking the perfect present for the person who already has everything, try to remember that the pressure, the frustration, the frayed nerves are all part and parcel of the Holiday Season. Real, virtual beauty
tougher budgeting decisions in future years if the provincial government goes ahead with plans for reductions in its own municipal support grants. St-Amour noted in a prior interview that if the counties administration is able to maintain its zero-per cent budget record over the next few years then that would also help out rural municipalities in the end since their shares of the public tax levy for the counties would not increase. Next year’s counties budget remains in- tact at $89.1 million. The municipal levy portion is $37.4 million, the same as it was in the 2013 budget. That means no increase to the counties’ percentage of next year’s property tax bill. The 2013 UCPR property tax rate of $465 for every $100,000 assessed value will re- main the same for 2014. Any increase or decrease in the actual amount of property taxes that homeowners in Prescott-Russell pay the counties next year will depend on whether or not their property increased in value or decreased. The capital works portion of the budget includes plans for 53 kilometres of pav- ing projects, three storm sewer repairs, and county road studies for Hawkesbury and the former provincial highway now known as County Road 17. Having the 2014 budget approved now means that all departments in the coun- ties can get an earlier start on their tender calls for capital works projects, equipment purchases, or service contracts. This could result in lower-than-usual bids during the tendering process as some companies may scramble to make sure their spring and summer production schedule quotas are filled as early as possible. This has resulted often during the past two years in savings for the counties along with budget surpluses which can then ei- ther go into reserve funds or go towards expanded capital works projects like road paving.
GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
L’ORIGNAL | The United Counties of Prescott-Russell have a budget all signed and sealed and ready for next year. But not without a couple last-minute objec- tions. In a registered vote of six for and two against, the counties council gave final ap- proval during a recent session to the 2014 budget, the second consecutive zero-tax rate increase budget for Prescott-Russell. The dissenting votes for final approval came from Champlain Township Mayor Gary Barton and The Nation Mayor Fran- çois St-Amour. “The staff is probably not going to like this,” Mayor Barton said before explaining the reason for his disapproval. His and St-Amour’s objections were not about the overall budget itself but for council’s decision earlier in the month to turn down a request from The Nation council for further cuts to the counties’ budget which would have reduced the municipal property tax levy even more. The Nov. 27 counties council agenda package included a resolution from Champlain Township council supporting The Nation’s request for a further 2.5 per cent reduction of the counties budget and tax rate. That reduction would have meant about $1 million less for the counties bud- get. Both Barton and St-Amour have noted that rural municipalities are experiencing difficulties meeting demands for services while trying to maintain aging infrastruc- ture “The fact is, day to day, every day we’re getting more demands on our municipal budgets,” Barton said. Both he and St-Amour also noted that municipalities like theirs will face even
L’hôtel de ville prêt en avril
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Bertrand Castonguay , President, bertrand@eap.on.ca Roger Duplantie , D.G. / G.M., roger@eap.on.ca François Bélair , Sales & Development, fbelair@eap.on.ca François Legault , Directeur de l’information/News Editor, francois.legault@eap.on.ca Yvan Joly , Sales director (Hawkesbury), yvan@eap.on.ca François Leblanc , Directeur (Lachute), francois.leblanc@eap.on.ca Gilles Normand , Production & Distribution Mgr., gilles.normand@eap.on.ca Julien Boisvenue , Layout & Prepress Mgr., julien.boisvenue@eap.on.ca
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Richard Mahoney
Le nouvel hôtel de ville de Grenville-sur-la-Rouge sera prêt au printemps, si tout va bien. La première assemblée du conseil devrait avoir lieu dans les nouveau locaux, a déclaré la directrice générale, Carolyn Ayoub, lors d’une réunion du conseil, mardi. L’hôtel de ville, construite sur une parcelle de terrain sur la rue des Érables à Calu- met, remplacera le centre administratif actuel, qui est situé sur la rue Maple, dans le village de Grenville. Actuellement, le conseil tient ses assemblées ordinaires au Centre Paul-Bougie à Calumet. Le conseiller Claude Cadieux a demandé que le conseil puisse siéger dans chaque secteur de la municipalité. Le nouvel édifice, qui coûtera 1,2 million $, est construit par la compagnie Landco de Piedmont.
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