A 7.38 per cent tax increase in 2024 is moving forward in Centre Wellington, pending final council ratification.

Adam McNabb, township treasurer, noted this increase will cause a jump for locals when paying their taxes.

"On the average assessed residential dwelling in the Township of Centre Wellington, we can expect on the township side a year-over-year increase of approximately $98.70 on an annual basis," McNabb stated.

Rate drops from draft budget figure

Several items led to the rate, that in draft form was at an 8.54 per cent clip.

Notably, during Thursday’s deliberations, council decided to reduce termite management's impact on taxation to 0.8 per cent. That particular number was over one per cent coming into deliberations. OLG funding the township receives yearly will will be directed to termite management, the long-spanning topic of discussion this calendar year in Centre Wellington.

That wasn’t the only item contributing to the decrease, but Mayor Shawn Watters notes this budget year was far from an easy one for staff.

"It was a tough budget and we understand that everyone is scrambling right now. It's not an easy time. We still have to provide a level of services," Watters explained.

"You can tell in our discussions with council, they were really struggling with this as well," he added.

One much-discussed $14,000 difference came Friday when an item was removed. The recommendation staff moved forward with was to remove the rental of temporary washrooms in Elora. These facilities were originally to operate in peak tourism months.

Also leading to the taxation decrease was a plan by staff to phase in a new council remuneration policy by spreading it out between several years.

The new wage structure will now be introduced in a split between 2024 and 2025.

Sportsplex dollars shift landscape

The Centre Wellington Sportsplex will be getting some upgrades as a part of the budget.

CAO Dan Wilson told the Grand at 101 Thursday $30,000 from 2025 has been transferred to 2024. This money will aid new basketball nets in the hall at the sportsplex. Council will also be adding seat-heating in the sportsplex pad B. This will cost $35,000.

Due to these budget shifts, the township will be putting off a couple of tourism projects; an office renovation worth $26,000 and a washroom design of $50,000. Both of these projects will be pushed to 2025.

What's next?

McNabb says while there's no crystal ball, he expects the budget to follow projections, and that the tax increase will go down in the coming years.

"We do have a three-year forecast that is part of the draft budget. We will see a reduction from our current level of 7.38 over the next couple years. Until we have a more fulsome view of 2024, we won't have a really good line of sight of what that impact may be in future years," McNabb said.