Chatham-Kent council wrapped up their budget deliberations last night, approving the 2022 municipal budget.
The budget passed with a 2.79 percent increase in property taxes.
Council had a marathon meeting on Tuesday night, but Wednesday’s meeting was relatively quick—clocking in less than an hour, as council passed the budget in an 11-7 vote.
Over four nights, council tried to find savings to reduce the tax impact to area residents, which will be on the minds of voters as they head to the polls in a municipal election in October.
On Wednesday, council cut just under $96,000 by reducing lifecycle inflation as well as increasing the one-time interest revenue by $130,000, in a bid to get to the 2.79 percent figure.
By cutting the $96,000 in tax money from infrastructure it’s saying that council wants to put absolutely nothing into infrastructure this year, said Chatham-Kent Chief Financial Officer Gord Quinton.
“This is this council pushing down their responsibilities to the next council on infrastructure,” Quinton said.