There was no indication of a line-by-line review – or scrutiny of any kind – of Woolwich’s 2013 budget as councillors met last week in the first of three special sessions.
The budgets for four departments – chief administrative office, council and information services, finance, and fire – were approved January 10 as presented by staff, with barely a question from councillors. Combined spending in those departments is expected to hit $4.3 million in 2013.
Overall, the township budget currently sees operating expenses of $13 million, up 4.1 per cent ($515,000) from the $12.5 million in last year’s budget.
On the revenue side, Woolwich is forecasting $6.02 million, up 1.2 per cent over the $5.9 million in 2012.
The budget reflects a planned tax hike of 1.5 per cent, with an additional 0.5 per cent in a special levy for infrastructure.
That 2 per cent increases in property taxes would amount to an additional $12.68 on the average home assessed at $269,000, director of finance Richard Petherick told councillors.
The tax bill on such a home – $2,784 – would see the township receive $633 (23 per cent), while the region would realize $1,557 (56 per cent) and school board $594 (21 per cent).
While the township has yet to set wage levels – it’s just heading into negotiations with unionized workers – the fire department budget allows for a 2 per cent increase in wages paid to volunteer firefighters, who currently earn $22 an hour for responding to calls.
“We’re the lowest in the region,” said fire chief Rick Pedersen, who noted the goal is to move up the ladder, with Wilmot paying the most at $27.
Although Coun. Allan Poffenroth had called for the township to look at staff cuts or wage freezes earlier in the budget process, that issue was not raised at all as councillors got into the details of the budget.
Staffing costs, accounting for more than half of operating expenses, have risen significantly in recent years. There’s been no talk of eliminating unnecessary or unproductive positions, with a staff report identifying no such changes while noting the township is heading into another round of contract negotiations with its unionized workers, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 1542.
Poffenroth’s suggestion a few months ago for cuts found some support from Coun. Mark Bauman, who suggested the township could find service levels that could be lowered. That subject was not broached last week.
In an interview this week, Bauman said he’s prepared to review staffing levels, but would not look right now at eliminating any middle management and support positions added in recent years.
“I think that there are some efficiencies that can be found, but I’m not ready to go on a headhunting mission.”
Although an advocate for setting aside money for infrastructure projects – in November, he voted against dropping the special levy to 0.5 per cent from the original 2.5 discussed earlier in the process – he said he doesn’t see freeing up $400,000 to $500,000 a year through the elimination of recent job additions as the way to go at this point.
“I’m not prepared to do that,” said Bauman, noting staffing levels should be addressed in the upcoming strategic planning session.
The second budget session was held Thursday night to discuss the recreation department numbers and part of the engineering and planning services budget. Details were not available before press time.
