Following a two-day discussion, and presentations by department heads, Lake of Bays Councillors managed to whittle down the 2024 tax rate increase to 9.06 per cent by postponing some projects, cutting others, and using reserves to offset further increases.
The increase, if passed when council meets again on February 13, 2024, will mean an extra $7.33 per month or an annual increase of $87.95 on a residential property assessed at $500,000. That increase, according to Lake of Bays Director of Finance/Treasurer, Patricia Allen, would result in the second lowest increase in Muskoka with Huntsville sitting at an increase of 10.68 per cent, Bracebridge at 6.8 per cent, Muskoka Lakes at 14.3 per cent, Georgian Bay at 9.9 per cent, and the lowest, Gravenhurst, with an increase of 2.99 per cent. The District Municipality of Muskoka has passed an increase of 4.34 per cent.
With a total revenue of approximately $12.82 million and expenses sitting at about $16.03 million, councillors debated on what to do with an overage of about $3.2 million. Following further postponements and some cuts, councillors managed to decrease that amount further to approximately $1.73 million.
“We can either pull from reserves or cut more projects,” said Lake of Bays Mayor Terry Glover. In the end, council pulled from reserves to bring that tax rate to an increase of 9.06 per cent with remaining reserves sitting at an estimated $6.1 million.
Councillors discussed the possibility of revisiting development charges. Lake of Bays CAO Bryan Brown noted that Lake of Bays is one of the few municipalities that doesn’t have development charges. He said in the past three years, the municipality could’ve pulled in well over a million dollars.
Councillor Nancy Tapley noted that the idea of not implementing development charges was done to encourage development, particularly affordable housing, which didn’t seem to work.
Brown noted the money garnered from development charges could be used for growth-related expenditures such as fire services, parks and trails, to name a few.
Following a request from the Dwight Library Board, Council approved setting aside $400,000 for a library expansion project reserve.
Staff is expected to provide an updated budget and council is expected to officially pass the municipality’s 2024 budget at its February 13 meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.
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