While the population in the area has increased over the last few years, it's still not enough to noticeably improve the population density in Chatham-Kent.
BMA Managment Consulting Inc. has released its 2018 municipal study for Chatham-Kent. The company studies the financial position of major municipalities across the province.
The study showed that Chatham-Kent's population increased about 4.5 per cent in 2018 compared to 2016. However, due to the municipality's large geographical size, population density is still a challenge.
Chatham-Kent's population density for 2018 was 43 people for every square kilometre of land (2,458 km²). For comparison, out of 107 other municipalities in the study, the average population density was 547 residents per km². The municipality of Windsor has 1,561 residents per km², while London's population density is 968 people for every km².
Chatham-Kent's Director of Financial Services Steven Brown said that poses a significant challenge for the municipality because it means a small population has to maintain a large area of land.
"Chatham-Kent has a low population density, meaning there are fewer people to pay for the required services such as roads, bridges, water and wastewater," said Brown.
Chatham-Kent's average household income is $77,014, which was ranked the 13th lowest out of the 108 municipalities in the survey. The study average was $102,194. Despite this, it was good news for the municipality in terms of finances.
Chatham-Kent's financial position has been trending upwards since 2011 and is currently sitting at $948 per capita (a measurement of total assets minus financial liabilities), which is well above the survey average of $435 per capita. The way the municipality manages their money also looked optimistic. It was revealed that for every 60 cents of debt, Chatham-Kent has $1 of reserves.
When it comes to housing taxes, Chatham-Kent was hovering around the average point. Property taxes in the municipality for a two storey home averaged around $4,734 versus the study average of $4,524.