The first draft budget has now been released and Oliver Paipoonge taxpayers are being told the levy hike is set at 40.89% for 2024.
Quote from page 1: The tax levy will increase by 40.89% in 2024 before growth, the 2023 tax rate is 0.01346865% the 2024 tax rate would be 0.01897598%.
Now this is a draft and not necessarily the final number but admin is telling council this is what is required. As well there is the mention of the new MPAC assessments which will come in early December and will be incorporated in future drafts. Taxpayers should pay close attention to this. Due to Covid MPAC assessments have been on hold for several years. We feel when we see these new assessments there will be a very large increase in market value assessment numbers. Without a corresponding drop in the mill rate we will see a very significant increase in taxes.
The first budget item we will address is the Operating portion. Many cost increases are fixed. Contract wage and benefits are an example. Increases from suppliers are another beyond control of admin. The text on page 1 indicates that in order to maintain the same level of service the operating budget will have to increase by $444,896 (est.). When the Duke Hunt property was sold the municipality netted about $437,500. On October 10, 2023 council approved spending an additional $148,200 on the museum (RFP No. 22-2023). The funds are to be taken from the sale of the Duke Hunt property. Had council simply waited about one month they would have almost the entire amount of money required to cover the increased operating cost for 2024.
Now that we can see the 2023 museum report 2023.194 and the "As of Oct. 31/23" numbers in the draft budget we can get a better picture of things. We will use the reported number of adult visitors and admission included in the museum report 2023.194 and other financial numbers included in the draft budget. The 2023 budgeted deficit has already been exceeded by about $19,000 and we still have 2 months to go. Including this budget deficit number ($145,622) and the additional approved spending of $148,200 the museum spending will be $293,822. Using the adult visitors who pay admission (1039) and that total cost so far, the cost to taxpayers is $282 for every paying visitor. Using that total cost ($293,822) and the open hours included in the museum report (314) it means taxpayers are spending $935 per operating hour. Once the insurance cost for 2023 ($16,500 budget est.) and the additional other costs to year end are included we suspect the 2023 operating cost will exceed $1000 per operating hour.
Looking at the revenue portion we can calculate the revenue per adult. If we divide the number of paying visitors in the museum report (1039) and divide it by the number of operating hours (314) we see that there are slightly more than 3 adults (3.31) per operating hour. The admission revenue in Report 2023.194 is $4694. Dividing the admission revenue by the number of adult visitors we get $4.51 (Four dollars and fifty one cents) per adult. This becomes 3.31 x 4.51 = $14.93 in admission revenue per operating hour. We can check that by dividing admission (4694) revenue by operating hours (314). Rounding that up to $15 we see that spending exceeds admission by $920 per operating hour.
Our suggestion is capping the deficit for the museum at $50,000. That works out to a subsidy of $48 per paying visitor, almost 10 times the advertised cost of admission. Cover the cost of insurance, heat and hydro out of that $50,000 and give the museum board freedom to apply the remainder to projects. Let fundraising and admission cover any other costs.
And there is still the big ticket item. The cost of the arsenic removal equipment is still unknown but it appears that a $300,000 loan will be used to cover the cost.
Quote from page 9: Direct billing is based on $155 per month for 32 households on the system. Users currently receive bottled water due to high arsenic levels. New water treatment plant in place in 2024 cost $300,000 paid through 5-year loan.
We are opposed to council spending $437,500 on a money losing asset used for 314 hours per year and borrowing money to cover the cost of a life necessity. We feel council should cease spending another cent on the museum until the Rosslyn water system is fully complete and proven. And while we are on the topic of the Rosslyn water we came across an article on Ontario.ca. It says the municipality was convicted in court on January 19/23. Here is a quote from the Ontario.ca news:
On January 13, 2023, the Corporation of the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge was convicted of one violation under the SDWA and was fined $6,000, plus a VFS of $1,500 with three months to pay the fine.
We were unable to locate this money specifically in the 2023 As of Oct 31 numbers so it is likely included in another cost. We feel a separate notation should be made so all taxpayers but in particular the ones on the water system, are aware of this.
Inflationary costs hit the taxpayers as well. Grocery price are rising at roughly double the rate of inflation. And that is not a cost that the municipality has to be concerned about but it is the single biggest cost for most taxpayers. We buy fuel for vehicles as well. Costs have risen everywhere. This is a time for council to be fiscally responsible, eliminate unnecessary spending and deliver a budget where the residents pay exactly the same tax bill as they had in 2023 with no reduction in services. And to do this the mill rate must be lowered to reflect any increase in taxes caused by the new assessment values.
