Warwick Mayor Todd Case doesn’t like to pass along a tax increase, but says this year, it is necessary.

Township council completed its budget deliberations Friday committing to a 3.5 per cent tax increase. That will bring in a little over $96,000 for the municipality and cost local taxpayers about $21 for every $100,000 of value their home is assessed.

This year, it will take $7.78 million to run the municipality. The township will have to take $91,000 out of reserves to help pay for the needs in the operating budget according to Treasurer Trevor Jarrett. Jarrett has advocated making sure tax dollars pay for the operating budget but he told council he was “comfortable” with using reserves this year.

Warwick, like every other municipality in Lambton County, is facing double-digit insurance increases. “The insurance alone almost equals a three per cent tax increase by itself,” said Case, noting Warwick is not alone.

“All municipalities, Ontario been hit hard with large insurance increases this time around.”

There is only one or two insurance companies in the province which provide municipal insurance. With rising claims, due in part to damage from more severe weather events, increases have become the norm in the last three years, with communities paying at least 10 per cent more yearly.

And as inflation rises, so do the costs of doing business for the township, particularly when it comes to building projects.

Last year council planned to replace a salt shed at the Nauvoo Line works yard. The original plan included a wash bay for the township vehicles. Contractors wanted to spend $1.7 million at the time. The wash bay was removed from the project, but inflation struck again; estimates still sat around $1.7 million for a new 10,000 square foot shed.

Friday, councillors voted to scaled the project back to 6,000 square feet. It’s now expected to come in at $1.1 million.

“It was a challenge. I mean, look at projects that didn’t get done last year, because of the overruns, the extra costs, and everybody in Ontario seems to be or seem to be experiencing that,” says Case.

There was also a move to replace all of Zion Line. Administrators suggested fixing the most damage parts of the road at a cost of about $629,000 – nearly double the amount Warwick expected the same job to cost last year. The project was expected to extend the life of the road by about five to eight years when it could be rebuilt.

But Don Jones, who lives along the road, wanted the entire road replaced as Confederation Line had been, saying the plan being proposed is a “complete patchwork” solution.

Jones says Zion Line sees a lot of traffic when Highway 402 is closed and its done a lot of damage. “I was talking to some of the truck drivers that go down it and they said it is getting tough to keep their rigs on the road because they’re wanting to bounce all over because of the cracks.”

Case acknowledge there is more traffic on Zion Line that anyone ever thought and there is a lot of damage.

“I’d like to be able to even do a more thorough job and do a complete road replacement” says Case adding the cost in 2021 was about $3 million to replace it from Arkona Road to London Line. That would mean a 100 per cent tax increase in one year.

Case says it shows how important federal and provincial grants are to maintaining local infrastructure. But he worries those may be few and far between for a while. “I do know times are tight, times are tough. And I don’t expect that we’re going to see tons of those opportunities. So it makes sense that you just have to be that much more prepared when they do come along.”

Council did cut a number of items from the $3.73 million capital budget including a new lawn mower which would have been used in the local cemetery. It was part of a plan which would have seen town staff do the work. Councillors decided it would be cheaper to contract the work out. They also removed a new $86,000 wood chipper from the capital budget.

The mayor says the township’s costs also increased with a number of building projects in the last year, including the new lease for the municipal office, which is over $161,000 a year.

“With the money that’s been spent in Warwick Township over the past couple of years and the extra debt we’ve taken on, I was happy with that (3.5 per cent tax increase.) I will say I’m never happy with the tax increase. But I think it was reasonable at 3.5 per cent. And as we move forward, honestly, it’s going to be another tough budget year next year. And what we need to do is continue to try to move on and promote our new facility and promote our community.”

Case admits that might be tougher considering the economic climate.
“We were in a very good place for potential growth on the residential side and on the development side. So we’re not going to give up on that; we’re going to continue to work hard to try to land business opportunities in this community, because there are some out there. And when it comes to residential and residential development, we will work with our developers and try to find the path make some of that happen.”

Not everyone was pleased with the tax increase. Council received a letter from resident James Aubin who said, “Irresponsible spending is not what we need right now in a financial crisis. If I had wanted bloated government spending, I wouldn’t have bought a house out here.

“If you wish to find revenue sources, encourage people to come here, don’t punish the ones who already are,” he wrote.

BY THE NUMBERS

√ $70,000 amount set aside for the 150th anniversary celebration
√ $10,000 – the amount set aside as a subsidy for the Y
√ $300,000 – to be spent on stabilizing the Watford fire hall
√ $50,000 to resurface the tennis courts
√ $100,000 to revitalize the old Watford Fire Hall museum
√ $181 – the total increase in spending on councillor pay in 2023.
√ $1,369.28 – the amount of taxes paid by homeowner whose house is assessed at $300,000 under market value assessment.