Grey Highlands council has settled on a draft 2025 budget with a 16.8 per cent local tax increase.
Grey Highlands council held its third committee of the whole budget on Jan. 14 and ended the day with a local tax increase of 16.8 per cent. When blended with Grey County’s increase of 3.3 per cent the overall tax bill in Grey Highlands would rise by 10.5 per cent.
That represents a $136 increase per $100,000 of assessed value for a home. The majority of the local tax increase was taken up by new funding for the municipality’s long-neglected capital/asset management program, with that amounting to more than nine per cent of the increase.
In an interview a day after the budget meeting, councillor and budget chair Tom Allwood said council faced tough circumstances with the 2025 budget.
“I think everyone knew this was going to be a difficult year for budgeting purposes. I’m somewhat surprised council is at the point of supporting a 16.8 per cent increase. We did our best to balance keeping the tax rate reasonable and the level of services,” Allwood said.
In December, council kicked off the budget process with a goal of adding 10 per cent to the tax levy for capital/asset management purposes. That goal was combined with an effort to find five per cent savings on the operating side of the budget to offset the capital increases. However, while the goal for the capital increase was reached – finding the operating savings turned out to be a tall task.
“I didn’t see an appetite for cutting services,” said Allwood. “We were faced with cost increases beyond our control.”
Allwood said municipalities are facing increased cost pressures for capital spending and said stable funding from upper levels of government would be a huge benefit.
“We need provincial help,” he said.
At the budget session on Jan. 14, council did not approve any major funding cuts. A plan to revert a paved portion of Road 170 to gravel was scrapped and council will revisit the project at a later date. Council also decided to fund a waste management study from reserves.
The budget will now be presented to the public at the mandatory public budget meeting. Council plans to hold a hybrid meeting in the council chambers and online to receive public comments on the proposed 2025 budget. The date of the meeting has not yet been determined. Following the public meeting, the budget will return to council for further discussion.
“I’m looking forward to the budget town hall with the public,” Allwood said.
