Clearview taxpayers face increase just under 2%

Clearview Township ratepayers will have to dig a little deeper, after councillors gave their preliminary blessing to a 1.94 per cent increase in taxes, Monday night.

That will mean the average homeowner – with a residential property valued at just more than $255,000 – will be paying an additional $54.88 in 2015 for a total tax bill of $2,880.

Treasurer Edward Henley said that number may still have an adjustment – and may even go down – once the county and education numbers are factored in. Simcoe County has not yet approved the budget, but Grey County is looking at a two-per-cent decrease this year.

Henley will bring back the final budget for council’s approval in April.

After an hour or so of discussion, councillors only agreed to one amendment – adding $25,000 to the library reserve account contribution to bring the payment to $100,000.

Council had reduced the annual contribution to $75,000 during debate last month.

“If you don’t do it now, then you have to do it at the end. To keep [that funding] stable will benefit us in the long run,” noted Ward 3 Councillor Robert Walker, one of four councillors who supported Ward 5 Councillor Thom Paterson’s motion.

Three other amendments proposed by Paterson, including a motion to put off hiring a communications officer in the latter part of the year, were defeated.

That included a motion directing staff to find an additional one per cent in savings from the $2.4-million administration budget.

Only Ward 2 Councillor Kevin Elwood threw his support behind that idea.

“I think we should consider showing restraint, and $25,000 is not a lot, and it would demonstrate that we’re looking to keep costs under control,” Elwood said.

However, after a review by Henley on how few areas there were in the administration budget to cut, councillors opted to stay with the status quo.

“I don’t see how we could cut from [the administration budget],” said Ward 1 Councillor Doug Measures. “I could see [$25,000] from the entire budget, but there’s very little to cut in this particular category.”

The most contentious item was Paterson’s suggestion to eliminate the hiring of a communications officer, at a cost of $36,000 in 2015. Paterson said it didn’t make sense to conduct any hiring when the municipality had so little growth-related revenue.

“What I am worried about is our growth in assessments, that what we rely on is growing at a smaller rate than what we’re spending,” he said. “We need to get into the discipline of spending on our internal [needs] in line with our growth and our revenue.”

He also questioned whether an economic development officer was needed before a communications and marketing position.

Human Resources manager Pavlina Thompson told councillors that communications was a position where the municipality was lacking, and the township’s neighbours have added the position in the last five years in order to keep up with the increasing demands of the web and social media.

Paterson’s motion fell on a tied vote.