West Grey is adopting its 2024 budget, which comes with a 9.7 per cent tax rate increase.
Council approved the budget costing home owners, whose properties are assessed at $100,000, an additional $71.85 during a meeting on Jan. 16.
Mayor Kevin Eccles says the increase was to meet inflationary pressures the municipality is facing.
“It was a number that probably begrudgingly that council had to come forward with, but it was a tough decision, but a decision that had to be made to keep our municipality with the infrastructure, with everything that’s needed to be a pristine municipality in Grey County,” says Eccles.
The over $29.3 million budget is broken up into over $18 million for operating and over $11.3 million for capital spending.
The municipality plans to divvy up its budget by spending 26 per cent of it on corporate, followed by 24 per cent on transportation, 16 per cent on police, six per cent on recreation, with the rest split between water and sewer, fire services, waste management, and library services.
Some major projects featured in the budget include the tendering and construction of the new West Grey Police station, engineering and construction related to the new Rockwood Terrace development in Durham, refurbishment of the water tower in Neustadt, accessible doors and a ramp for the Ayton Library, and more.
“I think going forward, the focus is on the property tax dollars being invested wisely into the future growth and prosperity of our municipality,” says Eccles.