Earlier this year Chatham-Kent council gave administration direction to look at a zero percent increase in the 2021 budget.
However, council has made several decisions over the past few months rejecting service level reductions, so at Monday’s council meeting council voted to change their direction for the upcoming budget, as they will no longer set a goal of a zero percent increase.
Councillor Brock McGregor says in light of not approving the service level reductions, it is the best way to move forward in budget talks in a transparent way.
With the COVID chaos, Councillor Michael Bondy says this is the year to strive for a zero percent budget increase, as an increase will be very harmful to a number of residents and businesses.
“If there has ever been a time that commercial and industrial entities really need a reprieve from a tax increase then this is the year,” Bondy says, noting residents would understand reductions in services due to the things that have happened this year.
