By Pat Warren
KAWARTHA LAKES-A motion by Mayor Andy Letham could reduce the proposed tax increase in the City of Kawartha Lakes by .5%.
Council held an information meeting on the Operating Budget on Wednesday. It was a chance for Councillors to ask questions before deliberating and approving the budget next Wednesday February 20th.
The meeting also included background on all the areas of the municipality.
CAO Ron Taylor started the day by giving an overview of the budget and the Corporation.
He said “staff related costs are the largest component of the operating budget and we are a service provider/industry currently delivering diverse service portfolios with over 200 programs & services locally. “
Staffing for 2018 was 695 full time, 347 part time ,135 other and over 350 Volunteer Fire Fighters. People planning, is a tool to guide the long-term requirements and costs for new staff according to Taylor.
The budget is now projected to come in at 3%, less than the 3.5% originally proposed, largely due to the removal of funds from the Fire Service’s Reserve for an additional aerial ladder. The Mayor made a motion to remove the aerial ladder from the budget and that motion was approved, paving the way for 1.2 million dollars to go back into City coffers. “If we remove 1.2 million from the Fire Fleet Reserve today and transfer it to the Capital Reserve today then that would leave with the contribution of 1.1 million  that’s in the operating budget that would leave 1.5 million in the Fire Fleet Reserve, which is a suitable amount for the number of truck purchases we are going to incur over the next five years.” said Mayor Letham. The motion was adopted.
The presentation of the budget also included possible increases to the staff compliment.
These include two positions in the office of Strategic Management, including one additional By-Law Enforcement Officer and one Supervisor for Records Management and Archival Services.
One new training officer for fire service could be added which will help the volunteer fire fighters meet future qualification levels. According to Mayor Letham, many volunteers asked him for a training officer while visiting fire stations last summer.
Four new paramedics at the Coboconk base could be added allowing better use of other bases to meet increasing demands in all areas. This move will also cut down on cross border charges from other municipalities according to the City.
Three positions in Development services are needed to address increases in various areas including one new position of an Administrative Assistant for the sewage inspection area of Bylaw Enforcement. This service was taken over from Public Health a few years ago and all the historic documents need to be transferred to city records which has proven to be a challenge. Also, new mandatory inspection of septic systems will add to the need.
A GIS specialist is required to cover the GIS manager who has to be available 24/7/365. This position will also allow for increase use of the service throughout the city. Also on the wish list is a heritage planner to help with the arts and heritage area of Economic Development.
According to staff, there has been significant growth in heritage designation requests and there needs to be more than one position to adhere to Provincial Heritage regulations. This need is also due to the newly designated Heritage Districts and for new ones coming forward in the future.
Engineering and Corporate Assets divisions and Community Services remain status quo with no need for new staff positions but Public Works Department requires two new positions. This includes one position for two bus drivers to meet proposed expanded services as identified in the Transit Master Plan and one position for a Coach and Truck Technician is to manage additional workload and to partially offset contracted services.
In Human Services two positions could be added in 2019 to support the KLH Housing Corp Building Maintenance Technician and Capital Projects Supervisor (contract). Victoria Manor also needs two positions, adjusting hours for Collective Agreement staffing requirements and for direct resident care levels.
In all, possibly 16 new positions could be added to the COKL organization, if approved next week.
