Frontenac County Budget Increase A Nudge Under 9%

By Jeff Green

In advance of the presentation of business plans by each of the Frontenac County departments, the preliminary budget numbers will result in an 8.95% increase in the county levy, if the budget is accepted by Frontenac County Council later this month.

The budget document that will be debated by Council this month, includes a “status quo” increase of 7.37%, which is about .4% over the target that Treasurer Alex Lemieux has identified, based on the Ontario Consumer Price Index (CPI) of August 2022, which came in at 6.9%.

The target increase for Frontenac County budgeting was set several years ago, based on the August CPI index each year, because in a normal year the county budget is prepared in September and October, for approval in November, prior to the commencement of the new budget year.

Every four years, when a new council is elected, the budget process is delayed several months in order to allow the new council to debate and approve the budget in their first year in office. The CPI did not change between August and October of 2022, so delaying the calculation would not have changed the target.

Staying with the CPI target proved to be a challenge for the treasurer, however.

As reported in the budget document, salaries and benefits for union and nonunion staff, increased by 9.57% in 2022. This includes a doubling in WSIB expenses, healthcare benefit increases of 17.7% and CPP increases of over 7%.

The three bargaining units representing paramedic and long term-care staff have all been without contracts for at least two years, with two sets of negotiations now in mediation, so the impact of those negotiations on budgets in future years is not known.

Lemieux pointed out that cost of living increases for non-union staff remain budgeted at 2%.

The 7.37% increase includes a $32,000 phase-in of funding for rural transportation, which is split between transportation programs offered by Rural Frontenac Community Services and South Frontenac Community Services. It also includes a $41,500 annual payment to service a 20 year debenture, to fund the purchase of land for the K&P trail.

A number of previously approved capital projects will have an impact on the 2023 budget or will be funded through allocations from reserve funds.

With all of these previous spending commitments included, the budget increase amounts to 8%.

That leaves a narrow set of project proposals for Council to debate, at a total cost to Frontenac County ratepayers of $107,000, a 0.94% impact on the budget increase.

Among these projects is a $74,000 (0.65%) dedicated levy to fund future growth in the cost of paramedic services.

The Frontenac County share of the cost for two other major project proposals for paramedic services, 2 new 12-hour crews and a new ambulance, close to $200,000, is being funded for 2023 out of the Paramedic Operations Reserve fund.

The only other increase that impacts the 2023 budget is a new 5 hour per day shift at Fairmount Home for a dietician, at a cost to county ratepayers of $24,117 (0.21%).

The budget document includes a breakdown of the various county reserve funds, some of which have been tapped in 2023, in order to mitigate against further budget increases.

The Operating Reserve fund will sit at $6.4 million if the budget is approved as is, which meets the target value for the fund. The Capital Asset Reserve Fund is set to drop $1.7million to $8.23 million, and it is classed as “underfunded” given the value of county fixed assets. The rest of the reserve funds are at the current targets, with the exception of one of the stabilisation reserves, which has dropped to about 2/3 of its target level.

The Business Plan presentations are available on the Frontenac County Youtube Channel, under February 8th.

Frontenac County meets on February 15 for their regular monthly meeting.

The Frontenac County levy is combined with the local township levy, and the levy for education, to create the property tax bill that Frontenac County ratepayers receive. ■