The Region of Queens is attributing a $1,669,497 budget surplus to unexpected income from investments, taxes on home sales and unfilled staff positions.

At the September 12 meeting, council received the Region’s audited financial statement for fiscal 2022/23.

Mayor Darlene Norman says municipal staff worked hard to ensure a balanced budget and the excess is not a result of poor planning.

The Region took in $505,560 more in deed transfer taxes than expected. The deed transfer tax is a 1.5 percent tax charged by the municipality on the sale of every property in Queens.

Investments also paid off for the Region as they saw an extra $139,000 more than expected due to the Bank of Canada continually increasing their prime rate.

The audit report shows the number of municipal employee positions going unfilled is hurting the Region’s ability to complete some projects.

Transportation wages were under budget by $52,417 because of an employee shortage. Another $112,863 remained in municipal coffers because of vacancies at the regional recycling facility. The inability to fill the building inspector position resulted in another $24,000 in unpaid wages. Staffing shortages in planning and law enforcement left $86,000 and $36,000, respectively, unspent. As well, repairs to the Astor Theatre did not go ahead do to staffing issues and the Milton and North Queens pools were under budget due to staffing shortages.

Mayor Norman says other municipalities and private sector operators are having difficulty recruiting and keeping employees and the Region of Queens is no different.

Available job openings are routinely posted, and the Region is actively pursuing people to assume some positions, most notably a Chief Administrative Officer. The position is the top employee in the municipality and has been vacant since former CAO Chris McNeill resigned in May.

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