NORTHEAST TOWN—After weeks of deliberations, the Northeast Town council passed its 2019 budget with minor increases to the mil rate.
Council did its final tweaking to the budget at its February 19 meeting. The long-winded discussion on cat control made its way back to the table with a new motion to make the $1,500 line item payable from the general levy rather than coming solely from Ward 2 taxpayers’ pockets as had been previously moved. The new motion carried.
Ward 1 councillor Laurie Cook also asked that council consider that $10,000 of the $20,000 bill for Burnt Island’s surface treatment be taken from the Gas Tax Fund which would mean that the remaining $10,000 comes directly from the Ward 1 levy rather than the entire $20,000. (Despite its West End location close to Silver Water, Burnt Island is part of the ‘islands’ in the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands’ name.)
Councillor Jim Ferguson asked how that would affect the budget. CAO Dave Williamson explained that it would increase the tax rate of Ward 1 residents only. Mr. Williamson also noted that there was $13,000 in unused 2018 Gas Tax monies that could be used toward this project. That motion was also carried.
A motion to pass the budget, with the following increases to the mill rate, was carried: Ward 1, 3.7 percent; Ward 2, 1.86 percent; and Wards 3 and 4, 2.55 percent.
As an example, on a property assessed at $175,000, the taxes for the year would be the following in each of the wards: Ward 1, $1,333.61; Ward 2, $2,213.59; and Wards 3 and 4, $2,041.97.
