Minto got an initial look at their operations budget last week.
Treasurer Gordon Duff said costs continue to rise, and the town's revenue is virtually the same, but their expenses are way up. He says inflation is at 7 per cent and the municipal rate may be even higher, and he noted there are a lot of factors that contribute to those higher expenses.
"We run a lot of diesel vehicles, and you can see the difference between regular and diesel fuel continues to get bigger. Hydro, insurance, staffing, so we have a lot of pressures on the budget," Duff explained.
With revenue roughly the same and the cost of just about everything has shooting up, Duff said it will be a challenge this year to get a budget nailed down. He said even means of water treatment has exploded in terms of cost.
"Our water manager was saying the price of chlorine is up 49 percent and it's just like, wow, ya know? Anyways, we're attempting to try to keep the tax increase below 5 percent, that's kind of our goal," said Duff.
On top of the rising costs of things, funding help is getting more scarce, as the OMPF funding was cut by $33,000 for Minto this year. The Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund did help out with a max increase of $150,000, but Duff pointed out even with that net money, the cost pressures are still huge.
"There's fewer federal and provincial infrastructure programs in place right now than, say compared to three years ago or compared to the 2008-2009 recession, there was a lot of grant funds available then," Duff concluded.
Council will hear about the capital budget on February 21, followed by a budget open house for the public on March 7 at 5 p.m. Then, hopefully council can be set to pass the budget at the March 21 meeting.