Town Council in Renfrew have had their first glimpse at the 2023 draft budget.
Council members got a walkthrough of the $79 million document on Tuesday, February 28th, as Chief Administrative Officer Rob Tremblay explaining that it’s $49 million for capital projects is thanks to the Town focusing on growing it’s tax base.
The Capital Projects portion of the budget covers infrastructure like road work that has either already been approved and or is set to be presented to Council for completion this year, as well as maintenance for municipally owned buildings and equipment and the first steps of repayment on the Ma-te-Way Expansion project.
Treasurer Erin Broome did note the tax levy increased 6.45%, or $529,416, to just under $10.2 million dollars this year but economic growth in 2022 has allowed them to lower the total impact on the taxpayer to just 3.99%.
Mayor Tom Sidney believes the town’s Treasury team has done an impressive job with the draft budget, adding that keeping the increase on taxes to about $73 for the average Renfrew household is commendable in the face of ongoing issues like inflation.
The draft budget will now head to the town’s committees for review and revision before being brought back to Council as part of their Committee of the Whole meeting on March 28th.
A formal public meeting and adoption of the finalized budget will then take place on April 11th.
(written by Kasey Egan)
