Huntsville reduces expenses in the budget, but keeps the tax increase
Huntsville General Committee reduced the 2025-26 Draft Budget by 1%, in the November 12, 2024, meeting.
In the budget meeting continued from yesterday, Committee had ongoing concerns about some of the new department positions proposed by staff.
Some of the proposals in question included new positions for the library, IT, Health and Safety, and a new mechanic. Committee questioned needs versus what they could manage without.
Committee decided that a new library position wouldn’t be necessary at this time despite staff recommendations for “rightsizing” over the next 5 years. They will consider it as a position in conjunction with Town staff for marketing projects during discussions about the 2026 budget instead.
Committee also questioned the need for a new IT position.
Deputy Mayor, Dan Armour, said they recently hired a new technician who they share with Lake of Bays, and have another one in addition to that. And Committee agreed to remove the position from the budget.
Committee also debated with staff about the need for a new Health and Safety position.
Councillor, Helena Renwick, said she couldn’t justify spending $139,000 on the position because “it seems an extra layer” on top of the health and safety committee groups they already have in place.
Although, staff expressed the need for a “specialist position" for the department to support the increased demands in areas such as disability claims and liability issues, Committee questioned whether it was a current need and concurred that they can initiate more staff training by a qualified consultant.
However, they did agree about the importance of budgeting for a new mechanic, especially given the recent staff shortage to the Fire Department and no longer having the support they had from a local business that closed last year. An in-house mechanic will save time from transporting vehicles to other locations and waiting weeks for repair, especially during inclement weather.
Removing the positions from the draft budget resulted in a $225,000 or 1% reduction for the Town.
Armour suggested putting the savings into the Roads Reserve “so we can get a step ahead for 2026.”
Committee agreed that it would be fitting given community feedback from a recent survey, expressing more work needs to be done on the Town roads, and they voted in favour of putting the savings into this reserve for the next two years.
Despite the reduction to the budget items, the tax increase of 4.84% remains the same.
Committee approved the proposed draft budget as amendmended.
