Lake of Bays Council establishing a tax increase guideline for the 2025 Budget
Lake of Bays Council established a tax increase guideline for the 2025 Budget, in the November 12, 2024, meeting.
They directed staff to try and stay around 5%, with considerations to reserves and upcoming Township projects.
Councillor, Nancy Tapley, advocated for closer to 4%. She said, “In a time of increasing inflation, food costs, housing costs, everything, nobody has money. So, keep it as low as we can.”
Mayor, Terry Glover, urged Councillors to consider “the advantage of putting money in reserves and working with the interest.”
He said, “Muskoka Lakes has a 9% provision this year based on a lot of money going into reserves. Their base model is maybe 4-6, but they’re putting money in reserves. And the reason is reserves can pay for future things from the interest of invested revenues.”
Councillor, Robert Lacroix, suggested that reserves can help in areas such as emergencies with roads and infrastructure. He said, “It’s all needed but every time we put money in there the budget goes up.”
Councillor, Rick Brooks, concurred about the importance of reserves, especially in the face of emergencies. He said, “All it takes is one beaver to wipe out a damn and our budget is just out the window,” and urged Council to keep it in mind for upcoming meetings.
Council agreed it’s an area requiring further consideration during upcoming budget discussions.
They also discussed the impact of staffing, which will affect the increase, and given a staff proposal today to add a new administrative position at a cost of approximately $100,000.
Lacroix indicated that considering staff increases are about 2-3%, if they targeted for a tax increase of 4%, that only leaves 1% remaining to cover other areas. He said, “If you want to add to reserves that’s impossible… Anything’s possible by it’s improbable.”
He added, “2-3% is going to go to wages, so, if you stick to 4, you’re not going to get anything done this year.”
Director of Finance/Treasurer, Patricia Allen, highlighted some of the numbers other municipalities are predicting so far, including Huntsville at 4.99%, Gravenhurst 5%, Georgian Bay base 6.76% but 11.6% with service enhancements, and District of Muskoka 4.6%.
Allen advised that other areas that have an impact include contractors, material supplies, and other general rising costs. She said, “It’s going up higher than the rate of inflation and the cost of living.”
Glover added that they’re also having to work around assessments from 2016, “which makes it pretty much a miracle to even pass a budget in those numbers.”
Brooks, felt it important to clarify to the public that “5% in Lake of Bays is not 5% in Huntsville, Bracebridge, or Gravenhurst.” He explained, “Everyone’s database if totally different. So, it sounds like ‘Oh, 5%, that’s a lot’ but compared to some other communities, it’s really, like, quite frugal.”
Glover gave an approximate example, indicating, “a point in Huntsville is triple a point in Lake of Bays.” He added that Huntsville also has a pool, theatre, and other things that have an impact on their numbers.
Allen provided a municipal comparison. She explained, “A 1% levy increase for us is approximately $79,000, for Huntsville is approximately $234,000, Gravenhurst $205,000, Muskoka Lakes $175,000, and Georgian Bay $91,000, and the District is over a million dollars.”
She added that future projects will also have an impact. For instance, “Fire itself, we’re almost looking at 2 fire halls, more equipment… There’s approximately almost $10 million coming up over the next 10 years,” she said.
She continued that debt financing will be a consideration moving forward as well.
Glover added that Council will be receiving reports for different areas, such as the 117 expansion, and Fire and Library projects, which will help guide them.
Staff will keep Council updated on guidelines in upcoming discussions about the 2025 budget. The next discussion will be December 10th (after
