December 22, 2010
Town gets budget gift
by Vance Gutzman
Christmas came early for members of Deep River council last week, and
not just because Mayor David Thompson announced he would be on holidays
from December 17-29, leaving Deputy Mayor Mary MacCafferty with
responsibility for signing authority and any emergencies that may crop
up in his absence.
No, Santa Claus came a-callin' in the form of the provincial
government, with the news that the town will receive $902,400 in 2011
through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF).
The OMPF replaced the Community Reinvestment Fund in 2005 as the
province's main transfer payment to municipalities.
Last week's announcement blew the doors off some members of town
council, especially considering that the 2011 OMPF allocation is a
whopping $168,400 more than the town received in 2010.
Deep River's OMPF funding increased by just $11,500, from $722,500 in
2009 to $734,000 in 2010.
"The expectation was that it would increase marginally this year,"
Councillor Terry Myers said when chief administrative officer Michelle
Larose broke the good news to council.
"To see a major increase like this is very good news."
Laurentian Hills also received some good news when the OMPF allocations
were announced last week.
That municipality will receive $278,700 in 20111, and although that's a
relatively small increase of $16,800 over its 2010 allocation, Mayor
Richard Rabishaw welcomed it anyway.
"This is good news, because we have a lot of things to do," he said.
Laurentian Hills had some difficult budget deliberations last spring
after learning its 2010 OMPF funding had been cut by $52,100 from the
$314,000 it got in 2009.
Residents of Head, Clara and Maria, meanwhile, may be breathing a small
sigh of relief after learning that the municipality has received a
$157,700 OMPF funding allocation for 2011.
That's still a substantial hit for the small municipality in that it's
down $17,500 from the $175,200 it received in 2010.
But the news this year could have been much worse, seeing how more than
$109,000 of last year's grant was considered to be one-time
transitional funding.
There were fears that, unless the province were to come up with some
other plan, the municipality would receive only $65,800 in 2011.
Head, Clara and Maria received $219,000 in OMPF funding in 2009 - in a
year in which its total tax levy was roughly just $260,000.
The province, it turns out, did not come up with some other plan for
2011, but announced instead last week that Head, Clara and Maria is
still eligible for the transition funding, to the tune to $87,300 of
its total $157,700 OMPF allocation.
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