Farmers in Chatham-Kent are able to breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
The motion to increase the farm tax has been withdrawn.
The fear of a possible tax increase drew in a large crowd Monday night, as people lined the walls in council chambers. But those concerns were quickly addressed at the beginning the council meeting when Councillor Bryon Fluker withdrew his motion.
The motion had looked to increase the farm tax from $0.22 to $0.25 for the 2017 tax year in order repair divested bridges.
Fluker says his original plan in making the motion had been to find $1.2-million to repair some of Chatham-Kent's bridges, adding he planned to refer it to the budget meeting but was told by administration that he couldn't do that.
"It still doesn't change what my plans are," says Fluker. "We have to find the money in this year's budget for the infrastructure."
Although the motion had been withdrawn early on in the meeting, several people still spoke at the podium.
One of the deputations came from OFA Zone Director Louis Roesch. Afterwards, he told Blackburn News that Fluker saved a lot of time in withdrawing his motion right away but it did help in bringing the issue forward.
"These bridges need to be fixed," says Roesch. "We fully realized that not all of them can be fixed but if they can work with our committee I think we can find some better and newer ways that fit MTO standards, low traffic volume [and] we can do it for a lot less money."
After hearing the deputations, Fluker says he's able to critique his motion.
"I can see a weakness in my motion where it was separating the rural community from the urban community," he says. "A budget is everybody and I think that's the direction I want to go now."
Fluker says he has a few ideas on where to find the money needed for bridge repairs but says there are details that need to be ironed out.
"I've got a few ideas but let's wait until budget time," says Fluker.
The first budget meeting is schedule for January 18, 2017.