Fort Frances Treasurer Dawn Galusha at 2019 budget meeting.
The town of Fort Frances has its budget in place for 2020.
It includes a 3.25 per cent tax increase for residential ratepayers.
It is a balanced budget will total spending, including capital projects and sewer and water services, pegged at more than $41-million.
Treasurer Dawn Galusha says there are still a lot of unkowns facing the town.
“With the closure of mill several years ago, the future of the large industrial class tax base for mill properties is still unknown. OPP costs are increasing and reconciled two years later which could have a significant impact in future years,” says Galusha.
Provincial downloading is also expected to play a factor. Transfer payments from the province in the form of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund are down $68,900 over 2019.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is also expected to play into the budget numbers.
Galusha says they have been watching the numbers regularly.
“I guess it’s the unknown to all of us so we’ll just continue making sure that we make wise choices for the whole of the community to ensure that we are in a positive situation at the end of the year.”
