City councillors in Dryden have passed and approved a tough municipal budget for 2022, which includes a 3.91 per cent tax increase for the community, but it wasn’t an easy discussion.
Overall, Dryden’s 2022 Municipal Budget includes no service level reductions with about $7.65 million in capital spending and another $850,000 of planned Capital work through taxation, over $600,000 will flow to city reserves and $1.06 million will go towards debt servicing costs.
Although, the budget still includes a $570,000 property tax levy increase – representing the 3.91 per cent tax increase, a $107,000 reduction in Ontario Municipal Partnership funding, an extra $216,000 in labour costs due to inflation and a 15 per cent increase in municipal insurance premiums.
This year’s budget also includes a 10 per cent increase to the community’s water and sewer rates, which was approved by councillors in late 2021 and is already in effect. Treasurer Steven Lansdell-Roll has said the increase is needed to address the water and wastewater systems’ infrastructure needs.
A major contributor to this budget season being a more strenuous one than most is Dryden’s decision to amalgamate the Dryden Police Service with the OPP, which is costing the city $4,311,000 extra this year, related to additional operating, disbandment and start-up costs, as well as facility upgrades.
“This is the Police Transition Budget of 2022,” said Councillor Shayne MacKinnon. “We’re putting ourselves back into a position where we can’t make any moves financially on our own because now we’ve incurred another debt.”
Overall, operating the OPP in Dryden is set to cost the city roughly $8.2 million in 2022 after their base and initial start-up costs. Although, city councillors hope they will see some yearly savings by 2030 and 2037, based on their financial projections.
“That remains to be seen,” notes MacKinnon, referencing the city’s potential savings 8 and 15 years down the line.
The Dryden Police Service’s budget for 2021 was listed at $3.9 million. As Councillor Shayne MacKinnon points out, that’s a 47 per cent increase expected to be paid for through taxation and emergency reserve funds – with the over $400,000 fund expected to be exhausted to about $18,000.
MacKinnon notes due to the OPP’s extra costs, over 30 items had to be taken off of the city’s list of planned Capital Work in 2022.
He says these upgrades could have included alleyway repairs, roadway repairs, dock repairs, new snowplows, park upgrades, dog park fencing, new trails and mechanical repairs at the Dryden Memorial Arena.
“I know that some of these projects are contingent on grants,” adds MacKinnon. “But if we could find the money to do this police transition budget, we could have found money to do some of these capital projects as well.”
During the meeting, tensions rose as MacKinnon spoke about how the majority of council members voted to re-engage in talks with the OPP and the province and eventually approved the amalgamation, despite resistance from the public.
While MacKinnon’s initial estimate that 87 per cent of the community answered they would prefer to keep the DPS in a 2019 public survey was incorrect, as pointed out by councillor Dave McKay, but MacKinnon was correct in saying the majority of community members have not supported transitioning to the OPP.
Through 2019’s public survey, the City of Dryden says 59 per cent of residents preferred to stay with the DPS, while 32 per cent favoured the OPP. Through 2021’s survey, 159 residents said a transition to the OPP was not desirable, while 135 residents said they would prefer to transition to the OPP.
“I don’t see this as an OPP transition budget at all,” said Councillor Norm Bush. Bush notes Canada’s inflation rate could reach 5 per cent and Ontario’s is already over 5 per cent, while Dryden’s increase is under 4 per cent.
“Nobody likes a tax increase of 3.9 per cent, including myself. But just from a strictly inflationary perspective, it’s better than the Ontario and Canadian inflation rates,” adds Bush.
Bush says if Dryden stayed with the DPS for 2022, the service would have required an 18 per cent policing budget increase, or about $708,000, which MacKinnon disagreed with. Bush says that would have resulted in about a 5 per cent tax increase for community members.
“It was a hard decision and I will stand by it 100 per cent,” said councillor and Police Services Board member Michelle Price. “It was a hard decision to make, but we need to move forward from it. I have all the hope that our OPP will do a good job for our community moving forward.”
Councillor Shayne MacKinnon abstained from the vote to approve the 2022 Municipal Budget. It was later passed unanimously by all remaining members.