Midland spending shaved, taxes increased

By DOUGLAS GLYNN Midland Free Press February 1 2011
Council has passed the 2011 budget.
Based on a projected two per cent increase, the town portion of taxes on a home assessed in 2010 at $181,300 will rise by $35 to about $1,812.

However, it may be spring before homeowners know the amount of their total tax bill because the 2011 county and education tax rates have not been set.
Last year, the combined county, county waste and education tax rates added $1,060 to the tax bill of a house assessed at $181,300, bringing the total taxes -including the town portion -to $2,837.
Council kept this year’s tax increase to two per cent by a series of spending cuts and is pinning its hopes on receiving an extra $100,000 in dividends from the town-owned Midland Power Utility Corporation.
The MPUC has been asked to increase the annual dividend it provides the town to $400,000 from $300,000; a request that has yet to be voted on by the MPUC board.
Among the spending cuts was $50,000 that had been earmarked to restore heavy garbage pickup. Council agreed to continue a system, which allows people to obtain a voucher to help offset the cost of transporting heavy items to a transfer station.
While council cut $22,000 in funding to the street outreach program operated for the town by the Salvation Army, the program will be able to carry on through to October. Treasurer Sue Gignac said some of the money budgeted for 2010 had not been spent and that has been topped up by donations.
Council supported increasing by $13,300 the budget for accessible transit operated under contract for the town by Community Link.
The coalition for fair taxes -a citizen group that closely monitored budget discussions -described the tax hike as “an increased financial burden to seniors and, for that matter, all residents that no one wants or can afford.”
A statement issued by coalition members Roy Ellis and Stewart Strathearn said, in part:
“Despite the glimmer of hope that council and staff are starting a new fiscally-prudent course, the facts still show Midland’s budget falling short of expectation.
“The new ($561,385) addition to assessment base alone should be adequate to respond to the expanded services required,” they coalition said.
Writing on his blog Sunday, Mayor Gordon McKay described the tax increase as the lowest he has seen in his five years on Midland Council.
While this the 2011 budget “appears to be a good outcome for Midland taxpayers,” he wrote, “it does not come to grips with the major financial issue facing Midland -our escalating cost of service delivery.
“Increasing regulatory requirements from the province, increasing service level needs from our citizens and wage inflation are causing our operating costs to grow by over five per cent per year.
“If your costs are growing by five per cent,” he cautioned, “it sets the tone for all other budget discussions.
“The revenue side of the equation is also of concern< ” he added, noting that Midland “has been fortunate over the last few years to have received millions of dollars in infrastructure grants.
“While these have been welcomed, they can only be used for capital projects; projects that often bring additional operating costs. Provincial help for Midland to offset operating costs can only be described as minimal.
“The last few years have reduced our industrial base and with it our industrial taxes,” he pointed out.
“So while there are some revenue fixes in the long term, in the short term revenue increases will have to come from residential taxes.
The solution to Midland’s financial challenge will be a mixture of identifying new sources of revenue, increased economic development and reducing our cost of delivering services.
“Fixing the cost-revenue imbalance is essential for Midland’s future,” his blog says.