November 25, 2009Recession takes bite out of budgetby Denise WalkerThe town of Laurentian Hills is feeling the effects of the recession on its bottom line. According to financial information provided by staff last week, the town will lose almost $15,000 in interest income this year. Deputy Mayor Fred Adams challenged staff on the issue of the disappearing bank interest income. CAO Wayne Kirby tried to reassure Adams that the reduction was the fault of vastly reduced interest rates. Adams refused to bite. He told Kirby that he did not believe the change in interest rates could explain the loss of revenue. Adams pointed out that previous years had showed income from bank interest to be in the $15,000 range. For 2009, staff was projecting income of only $128. Kirby promised that they would review the numbers. Provincial funding cuts How much will Laurentian Hills lose under new provincial funding guidelines? At least $65,000, according to Mayor Vance Gutzman. The mayor told council last week that the municipality, along with others in Renfrew County, would be lobbying the provincial government to continue to provide stabilization funds as part of the provincial funding formula. In previous years, the province had provided funding to ensure no municipality would receive fewer provincial dollars, even when new criteria were applied. That safety net will be withdrawn in 2010. The situation will be compounded by higher county taxes as the County of Renfrew is also seeing its grants decline. Municipalities are also trying to assess the impact of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on their bottom line. |
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