It’s still early in the process, but Huntsville is beginning to talk about next year’s budget. The town’s Manager of Finance, Julia McKenzie, presented the 2018 budget guidelines to council on Monday night. In it, she recommends a 5.74 per cent increase next year. That equals out to be around $11 for every $100,000 in home assessment value.
The number hasn’t been decided on yet, and can change throughout the budget process as council adds or removes items. However, the town is expected to continue putting money into capital budgeting to get up to a sustainable level of funding.
McKenzie says the goal is to get the jagged lines of estimated spending (green) and levy change (dark blue) to be on par with the tax contribution (red) and levy change (light blue):
Some of the factors in play for the 2018 budget include investing into roads and bridges, as well as the potential minimum wage increase. If the Ontario government votes to pass the new legislation to raise minimum wage to $14 an hour next year, it will cost the town around $39,000.
Staff budget meetings get underway next month and then in October councilors will discuss any new items they want to add.
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