Fort Frances town council will begin their budget discussions next week with a deficit of over $800-thousand dollars staring them down.
Higher policing costs and an estimated drop in provincial funding are primarily to blame.
Chief Administrative Officer Doug Brown says Fort Frances is no different than many other communities this year.
“We have a big deficit, but we’ve got through it in the past,” says Brown. “We have to work together.”
Brown does warn council has very few options available to tackle the deficit.
“Either we raise taxes, or we do a combination of cutting services or expenditures, or we cut services directly.”
The town does anticipate higher property assessment which could bring in additional tax revenue in 2019.