KENORA – Council has approved a 2024 budget with a 3.17 per cent tax levy increase.
City of Kenora councillors gave the municipality’s operating budget three readings Monday night to adopt the fiscal blueprint.
Coun. Graham Chaze said Wednesday that he and his colleagues “worked really hard to whittle through operating expenses to really make sure that we could pass something that was the least amount of burden on our ratepayers but also maintains our level of service.”
As a result, he said, Kenora residents will see a much smaller property tax increase than residents in most other municipalities while seeing no drop in service levels.
That means “we’re financially responsible,” he said. “Our finances, relative to other municipalities in our region, are being prudently managed and responsibly managed. We take rate increases and the impacts they have to our ratepayers very seriously.”
Chaze said he’s also pleased to see the budget’s allocation for a communications professional – “a position that this municipality really needs.
“People need to understand how we do business. They need to understand what’s going on in the community,” he said.
“And, you know, right now our administration doesn’t have the resources to really do that as effectively as I believe we should. This new role will hopefully give us that resource and alleviate some of the burden on our current staffing complement.
“So it’s really something I advocated hard for. And fortunately the majority of members of council saw the value in that and understand what the need is there.”
Coun. Lindsay Koch summed up the operating budget as “the result of numerous meetings of council and administration, feedback from and conversations with residents, and some definite give and take.”
In an email, she mentioned funding for fire and emergency services fleet replacement as a highlight because "our crews should have what they need to do the job well.”
Monday’s approval followed special budget meetings held on Nov. 9, Nov. 22, Dec. 4 and Jan. 15.
In dollar terms, the 3.17 per cent tax levy increase is just over $953,000.
The residential rate increase will likely be a bit less than 3.17 per cent as the burden is proportionately spread among other property classes such as commercial and industrial, city treasurer Ryan Marsh said.
The 2024 operating budget projects just over $42 million in total spending to maintain services at existing levels, with slightly more than $31 million required through the municipal tax levy.
The remaining $11 million in revenue to cover the city’s operating expenses will come from provincial funding, user charges, appropriations from reserve and miscellaneous sources.
Council approved the city’s 2024 capital budget in December.
