Chatham-Kent's first significant reduction to the tax impact this year could stem from its winter control budget.
With a mild start to the year, Chatham Councillor Brock McGregor is proposing to "add negative $1-million" to snow removal and control operations in 2016. That would reduce the allocation from $4-million to $3-million until the end of the year. It would also result in a lower tax impact for CK residents.
If Chatham-Kent ends up having a harsher November/December this year, and Public Works ends up spending that full $3-million on snow removal, the million dollars will have to be recovered in the 2017 budget.
It is possible, however, that the final months of 2016 are similar to the balmy January we just had. If winter control ends up costing closer to $2-million, then CK is off the hook for the negative $1-million they are considering adding.
Predicting how much money will be spent on winter control, is of course similar to predicting the weather. But McGregor says this is a calculated risk.
"If we didn't have [winter control reserves] then this wouldn't be a prudent move at all," explains McGregor. "It's basically saying we've got some value we can capture and give back to the community in the form of some tax relief."
Some other members of the budget committee were vocal in saying this strategy was simply "hedging CK's bets."
McGregor stands firm on his belief that this is a smarter move than other motions that could soon come forward.
"Over the next couple nights, we're going to start looking at options like this," says McGregor. "It's about finding the most responsible way to do it. We know what number we're at, we know we aren't going to finish at that number, so we need to find a way there."
While the motion was introduced during Wednesday's budget deliberations, councillors wanted to approach the issue with fresh minds. They'll address the possible winter control allocation during deliberations Thursday at 6pm.
The current tax impact for the 2016 Chatham-Kent budget sits at a 3.12% increase.
