Maryam Amini
CAMPBELL’S BAY – During the November 23 MRC Pontiac Council of Mayors a balanced budget of $9.5 million for the year 2023 was presented and adopted. In an announcement the following day, the MRC committed to use this budget for “the economic recovery and development of the region while focusing on its own competencies, such as property assessment, public safety and land use planning.”
Projected revenues for 2023 are $9,504,059 which is about $850,000 more than 2022; however, in 2022 an injection of approximately $341,000 from the accumulated surplus was needed to balance the revenues to expenses; for 2023 there was no transfer necessary leaving the accumulated surplus sitting at $500,000, according to Warden, Jane Toller. There will be $5.3 million in revenue coming from grants and services including $3 million from development grants.
From the $9.5 million in revenue, there is an overall increase in municipal shares of just over $740,000 despite a decrease in share value from $0.135 to $0.1329 per $100 of standardized property value. MRC Finance director, Annie Vaillancourt explained the projected increase in share revenue, stating, “The total shares increased but the rate decreased a bit. Standardized values of each municipality are high. The shares are calculated on these values, so if they go up and we keep the same rate, the shares go up. In this case the rate went down a bit but not enough to bring the share revenue down.”
The summary of expenses includes: administration $1,814,380; public safety and engineering $585,090; assessment $1,247,918; land use planning and development $2,227,158; economic development projects and activities $2,872,984; transportation $605,039; renovation programs $31,500; financing costs and capital expenditures $99,990; and Warden election costs by universal vote (pro-rated over four years) $20,000.
In comparison to last year, the expenses for transportation went up by about $50,000 and professional human resources expenses also increased by just over $100,000. There will be no increase in the salaries paid to the warden and mayors.
MRC Pontiac is responsible for managing the following matters: Land use planning; property assessment; management of intra municipal public lands (TPI) and the unorganized territory (TNO) of Lac-Nilgaut; economic and cultural development; waste management; watercourse management; management of recreational leases, quarries and sand pits; public safety; territorial marketing; sports and leisure; property sales for non-payment of taxes; and the regional license office. In addition, the MRC Pontiac manages several financial assistance programs, such as the cultural development agreement, Rénorégion and home adaptation programs, and the Regions and Rurality funds (FRR).
