PUSLINCH – Both staff and councillors are hoping to reduce the township's proposed 2025 tax increase to four per cent.
According to a new report on the proposed 2025 operating budget presented at a Puslinch council meeting Wednesday morning, staff are suggesting a $5.76 million budget for 2025 with $1.4 million earmarked for capital and $4.3 million for operational.
Representing a tax levy impact of $405.8K compared to 2024, the proposed increase would result in an annual tax increase of 5.08 per cent or $60 for the average property in 2025.
This doesn't include the county portion of the tax bill.
However, this number is likely to change after council voted to defer and add several items at the meeting including adding $10K for base budget increases in the Cambridge Fire Services contract, "recategorizing" $47.8K for a committee coordinator position and removing a recommended $10K contribution for the Morwick G360 Ground Water Research Institute.
This follows staff recommendations for council to consider removing several items from the budget to bring the proposed increase down to approximately four per cent, which would result in an average increase of $47.
Mayor James Seeley also suggested removing a budget item that suggested increasing integrity commissioner costs by $5,000, which was supported by all councilors.
"We had a difficult integrity commissioner investigation this year that drove costs up and I thought...if councillors wanted to find some small savings, we could remove this $5K understanding that if we end up with integrity commissioner complaints in 2025, they could be absorbed through the surplus or reserve," said Seeley. "So if you really want to find $5K in savings and take a calculated risk, that's one there."
Outside of staff recommendations, council approved one-time budget allocations of $1,435, $15,000 and $2,000 at the meeting for 175th-anniversary celebrations, proposed bylaw amendments and a peer review of statements of cultural heritage value or interest.
Permanent budget allocations of $627 and $1,770 were approved for an emergency cellphone for the backup EOC Director and Hamilton Health Sciences Medical Oversight, which fire chief Jamie MacNeil said is used by the fire department when responding to medical calls.
Earlier in the meeting, council discussed community grant allocations for 2025, approving $21,865 in community grant funds between six groups at the meeting including $4780 to go towards Puslinch Minor Soccer's new shed at Badenoch Field.
As requested, Aberfoyle Agricultural Society and Friends of Mills Creek were allocated $3,000 each, Whistle Stop Cooperative Preschool was allocated $1,000 and the Optimist Club and Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre were allocated approximately $5,000 each.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
