November COW(s): Budget Edition

Discussions wrap up on schedule for first time this term

November has been a busy month for members of Village Council, with public hearings and special meetings on top of regular committee and council meetings.

The ongoing budget discussions mean that councillors have met for the fourth and fifth times in November to address balancing the many needed expenditures with the limited funds available.

Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff led the fourth review of the budget planning process on November 6 with an on-table (and on-screen) package which was not made available in the evening's agenda package.

Chirkoff said he had crunched all the numbers from the previous budget meetings, and landed on an operating deficit of just below $178,000. He explained that to create a balanced budget, the Village will need to draw on existing reserves to bring that number to zero.

Municipal governments are the only political level in Canada not allowed to carry an deficit. In practical terms, the cost of a deficit this size to residents would amount to $296 per household, or an 11% increase in total from last year's taxes.

Chirkoff reminded Council members that property taxes for 2026 will reflect a three percent increase, while utilities will have a five percent increase across the board.

He said that in 2025, the Village received $3.9 million dollars in grants for the All-Zone, All Property (AZAP) Water Metering project. Chirkoff added the Village received approval for a $1.2 million loan from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA) to fund the Centre-Upper Bayview-Bayview Place (CUBB.3) watermain replacement project. The money is expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

He said there will be no further loans pursued in 2026.

After a request from Councillor Michael Broughton as to the return these funds were receiving while in the bank, Chirkoff explained that the Village has two investment streams, both obtained through MFA: a savings account, and an investment account. As such, these accounts net a higher percentage in interest than regular savings accounts.

Using an editable spreadsheet, Chirkoff then led Council members through the list of big-ticket supplemental items that had made the cut. While these items initially totalled $815,000, after discussion, Council managed to drop the total allocations to $570,000.

These included:

• Official Community Plan (OCP) Update: $70,000 —> $20,000

• Bylaws update: $100,000 —> $50,000

• All-Hazard Risk Assessment: $50,000 —>$0

• Magnesia Access Road repair: $40,000 —> $0

• Project SCORE (SCada Operations. REwork): $60,000

• pH Water upgrade: $200,000

• Well-water investigation: $50,000 —>$25,000

• Kitchenette, Klatt Building: $5,000

• Broughton Hall storage addition: $200,000

• Smart locks: $10,000

Discussion included the need to do the preparation work for a long-overdue Official Community Plan (OCP) update, and the cost of legally-necessary bylaw updates.

Councillor Neville Abbott argued that before changes to bylaws are made, the community be consulted regarding changes to the OCP. Councillor Ron McLaughlin supported Mayor Ken Berry's call for a Have Your Say or a series of "visioning" meetings to gain public engagement prior to initiating the actual OCP, which will likely be undertaken by the next Council.

Abbott noted that the pH adjustment will help slow the degradation of Village pipes.

Other business discussed:

• Minutes from the October 23 COW meeting (page 3) were approved.

• CAO Ross Blackwell introduced a report (page 7) offering an overview of the Zoning Bylaw with regard to cottages. Prior to discussion, Abbott asked Berry if he would be recusing himself, as he owns a cottage. Berry reminded him that COW meetings are for discussion only, and said he would not recuse himself. Council discussed the inconsistencies within the bylaw, such as the size and height of cottages, despite never explicitly being listed as a permitted use. They also addressed how cottages might be reflected within the more contemporary definition of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and also the fact that some cottages may have been built before the adoption of the current Zoning Bylaw, and could therefore be subject to “grandfathered” use.

Further discussion spoke to the complexity of the issue, with unclear definitions of the differences between secondary suites, cottages, short-term rentals and other ADUs.

Blackwell asked that Council address these inconsistencies to provide clarity for staff "for reasons of administrative fairness" when dealing with residents. It was noted that making the changes may ultimately require a bylaw amendment.

• Dierdre Bain asked if cottages are legally permitted under the current bylaws. Blackwell noted that some cottages may have been built before restrictions were in place. (Abbott clarified that as the current restrictions were imposed in 2017, many cottages fit in this category.) Blackwell said that technically today, a resident cannot apply to build a cottage until the wording of the bylaw is brought into alignment. "Either cottages need to be taken out to reflect the permitted uses, or the permitted uses has to change to include cottages." In response to Bain's puzzled expression, Blackwell offered to explain further outside of meeting time.

The November 6 meeting closed with a comment from McLaughlin asking for a summary of budget discussions to be presented to the public via the Village Update, to which Blackwell agreed.

The fifth and final budget meeting took place over less than twelve minutes on November 13. Chirkoff put his initial timeline for the budget process up on the screen, and then congratulated Council on meeting every deadline thus far.

"We're about six months in advance of the last time we passed a budget, and that's been the case for the last three or four years," he said. "I think it's really an indication of Council's commitment to the process."

He closed the meeting by displaying a follow-up action list on the screen, noting that the budget will go to first and second reading at the November 18 meeting, with third reading planned for December 2, and the fourth reading on December 9.

The next regular meeting of council is scheduled for November 18 at 6 p.m.

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