The Proposed 2015 Milton Budget is now on the town website – all 461 pages of it. Fortunately for those councillors and citizens who are challenged by numbers and budgets, there are tons of great photos and pie charts.
http://www.milton.ca/en/townhall/budgets.aspSome notes:
- Staff propose a 5.5% Milton tax increase for 2015 (p11). That excludes the library that proposes a 3.9% increase (p14).
- Staff forecast a 5.1% tax increase for 2016 and a 5.2% increase for 2017 (p399).
- $345k, about a 1% tax increase, is included to begin a Capital Levy to maintain infrastructure (p54). This would be easier to accept if there was also a plan to dispose of non-essential assets rather than budget tax money to maintain them.
-The Budget uses the taxpayer survey to justify increased spending where the survey responses suggested. Spending, however, is also increasing where the survey responses suggested cuts.
e.g. library programs and materials. (p29)
-Staff again provided a list of items that could be eliminated to reduce the tax increase (p105-111). Expect the Budget Committee to stick to this script at the meetings on January 12 and 13, avoiding other areas of the budget that may have as much or more impact.
-Lots of discussion of Reserve Accounts where the target levels have not been reviewed since 2006 (p426).