Local residents will get to have their say on the proposed 2023 municipal budget this afternoon.
The first of two public information sessions is being held online, hosted on the municipality’s Facebook page.
Council will be starting deliberations next week with a proposed tax increase of 6.35%, which municipal officials maintain is largely due to inflation.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says he knows the proposed increase isn’t sitting well with many residents.
“I expect there’s some people who will say 6.35% is not acceptable, and we’ll work to get that down, but if you go across all of Ontario they’re facing the exact same thing,” Canniff explains. “It’s not as though Chatham-Kent’s got the 5% inflation increase and nobody else does.”
Canniff says service levels are being maintained across Chatham-Kent, with no cuts or closures in the proposed budget.
The first public information session begins at noon today – CLICK HERE to take part in the Facebook Live chat.
A second meeting is being held online tomorrow night at 7 o’clock.
Deliberations, taking place in-person in council chambers at the Civic Centre, get underway next Wednesday.
