Brockton Council has approved the municipality’s 2023 Budget.
The avergage household can expect a 7.43 per cent tax increase which works out to $188.81 increase on their tax bill or 15.73 a month.
A release says, the total levy for 2023 is about $11.4 million.
It says, a key theme for the budget was finding an appropriate balance between reducing long-term debt and investing in reserve funds in the face of higher costs due to inflation.
Some highlights include $214,000 for the reconstruction of the Walkerton Tennis Courts at Centennial Park that will come from the Infrastructure Reserve Fund.
Council allocated an annual contribution of $200,000 to a reserve fund for a new recreational facility. They’re also going ahead with a feasibility study to consider designs for a new rec complex and potential improvements to the existing arena.
In addition to the Yonge Street Reconstruction and Trunk Watermain Replacement projects occurring in 2023 other key projects in the budget include:
$450,000 for the replacement of the 23-year old Street Sweeper, to be funded from the Roads Reserve Fund
$150,000 to convert the streetlights along Jackson and Durham Streets to LED with some pole replacements
$330,000 for the replacement of Bridge 0018 Concession 6 Greenock
The Municipality also plans to offer additional programming development at the Regional Training Centre at the Walkerton Fire Hall.
Staff say the municipality also received an increase of $150,442 in the allotment received through the Court Security and Prisoner Transportation Grant received from the Province.
Chief Administrative Officer, Sonya Watson says in a statement, “Brockton faced a challenge coming into the 2023 budget deliberations because of the frozen property assessments, high interest rates, and a high rate of inflation. The Municipality continues to provide quality service with a responsible tax rate increase and must balance the needs of our community related to services and infrastructure renewal in a challenging economy.”