The Region of Queens approved its 2024/25 budgets on Monday. (Rick Conrad)

Region of Queens council approved a balanced budget on Monday with no tax rate increases and almost $30 million in spending.

At a special meeting, councillors also approved a $21.5-million capital budget, which includes the start of big projects like the water and sewer extension to the Mount Pleasant area and the new outdoor community pool at Queens Place Emera Centre.

Spending is up about $4 million from last year, to $29,848,303. The region’s water utility reported a $442,122 deficit.

Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview that it was important to councillors not to increase the tax rate.

“We live in a great county and the budget reflects the fact that we are moving ahead,” she said.

“Many things in the budget remain the same. We’ve increased funding for fire departments for their truck purchases. The cost of those trucks is astronomical and we know how as volunteers how hard they work.

“It’s a good budget, it recognizes some requests from all parts of our county.”

Council committed an extra $126,772 in 2024/25 to help the county’s five fire departments with the rising costs of replacing fire trucks.

It also raised the household income threshold for the low-income tax exemption by $5,000. Property owners with a total income of $35,000 or less can qualify for up to $400 off their tax bill. The tiered structure gives the highest break for the lowest income.

“We understand that people financially struggle,” Norman said, “which is why … we increased the amount of money that people can make in order to claim a reduction on their taxes, … which is very generous, I believe, for a municipality of our size.”

The region reported a $644,000 surplus from last year, largely from rising property assessments, higher deed transfer tax revenue and unintended savings from unfilled staff positions. 

The region’s capital plan is packed.

CAO Cody Joudry said in an interview that it addresses a lot of concerns around the municipality.

“In terms of capital budget, it’s expansion of water, wastewater, there’s a lot of safety improvements and upgrades and a lot of investment in infrastructure and community assets, so I think that’s pretty significant.”

A little more than $7.8 million of the $21.5-million capital budget for 24/25 is provincial funding. Almost $2.5 million is from federal sources. About $3.8 million is from long-term borrowing, while $3.53 million is from a combination of municipal reserves and municipal surplus.

In addition to the new pool and the water and sewer extension, some other capital projects include:

• more work at Beach Meadows Beach to expand the parking lot, install sheltered picnic areas and improve environmental protections;
• much-needed repairs and upgrades at the Old Burial Ground in Liverpool;
• continued work on the Liverpool Business Development Centre to install a new heating, ventilation and cooling system;
• renovations to make the business development centre, otherwise known as the call centre space, ready for the temporary home of the Thomas H. Raddall Library;
• the early design work to install accessible washrooms at the inclusive play park and splash pad near Queens Place.

“There are things on there that are very important,” Norman said. “Of course, they will not all get done (this year), but by putting them on here, it shows that these are priorities and start them, do the best that you can do with them.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Region of Queens councillors Jack Fancy, David Brown and Vicki Amirault in a file photo. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens plans to increase the income threshold for people eligible for the low-income property tax exemption.

As part of budget discussions on Tuesday, District 6 Coun. David Brown asked council to consider increasing the income brackets for those eligible for the tax break.

“We know there’s been a lot of inflation this year and the consumer price index went up 3.4 per cent,” Brown said.

“We end up with bracket creep. I know some people are getting small raises in their pensions, small raises in the EI rate, and minimum wage that could price them out of that benefit. So we could be clawing back what little benefit they gained out of inflation.”

Property owners with a household income of $20,000 a year or less are eligible for a maximum $400 tax exemption. Those who make between $20,000 and $25,000 get up to $350, and those making between $25,000 and $30,000 get as much as a $300 break.

The revised income amounts would add $5,000 to each of those brackets. So the lowest income bracket would now be up to $25,000, and then $25,001 to $30,000 and $30,001 to $35,000. The tax exemption amounts would not change.

Brown originally wanted council to increase the income brackets by the same rate as inflation. That would have added about $680 to the lowest income group and about $1,000 to the highest.

But District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said council should increase the top bracket by $5,000. She said the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg recently changed its low-income tax exemption to give people a 14 per cent boost in savings on their property taxes.

“I think upping that to the $35,000 is more than reasonable and helps those who need it the most,” Charlton said.

Council decided to increase each income category by $5,000.

“We’re talking about the lowest (paid) and the poorest in our society who need the most help from us,” Brown said. “And it’s a small amount of money to be able to help those who need it the most. I think it’s something we should do.”

The region originally set aside $125,000 for the low-income tax exemption in their 2024/25 budget. CAO Cody Joudry said staff would add another $10,000 for it in the budget. 

The increase will be funded from the municipality’s accumulated surplus special operating reserve fund, which sits at just over $10 million.

Council is holding a special meeting on Monday at 9 a.m. at the region’s offices to vote on the final budget.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Region of Queens councillors are getting closer to finalizing their 2024/25 budget. (Pixabay)

The Region of Queens is getting closer to finalizing its budget for the 2024/25 fiscal year.

Councillors will go over the draft operating, capital and water utility budgets at their meeting Tuesday evening at 6. It will give councillors a chance to make any other changes before voting on the final package.

They’re proposing to have a special council meeting next Monday at 9 a.m. for that final vote.

Councillors are coming off a 2023/24 budget that ended up with an estimated $650,000 surplus. 

So far, the region is proposing a balanced budget for 24/25, with no increases to the base tax rate. 

Councillors and staff have worked over the past month to avoid any tax rate increases, even as they added expenditures, such as an extra $126,772 to help the region’s fire departments pay for rising costs to replace trucks.

Also on Tuesday, councillors are set to discuss crosswalk safety at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets in Liverpool, as well as speed limit reductions in certain parts of Liverpool.

The meeting is in council chambers on White Point Road, and it will also be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Fire trucks at North Queens Fire Association headquarters. (Facebook)

Region of Queens councillors and staff have found a way to help the county’s fire departments with the increased costs of buying new equipment — and all without raising the tax rate.

Councillors are currently in budget deliberations, so the final budget has not been approved. But they headed off a request for an increase to the tax rate to help fire departments pay for new trucks.

Fire chiefs and the region agreed to a new funding schedule in February to replace fire and rescue trucks. The region increased its contribution to $425,000 for pumpers, tankers and aerial trucks from $275,000. That kicks in for the 2026/27 fiscal year.

But as councillors heard on Tuesday, new trucks keep getting more expensive. And higher interest rates mean that borrowing costs for fire departments have skyrocketed.

Fire chiefs made a presentation to council on Tuesday asking for an increase of one cent to the region’s overall tax rate. 

The residential property tax rate per $100 of assessment in districts 1 to 12 is at $1.07 and $1.92 in District 13.

Chris Wolfe, chief of the North Queens Fire Association, told council that interest rates for fire departments have risen to 8.2 per cent from 3.45 per cent in 2021. On a 10-year loan of $600,000, fire departments would have to pay $170,000 more over that period than they would have in 2021.

“Basically the $275,000 that we get now for truck replacement would be just gobbled up in interest charges and wouldn’t be going to the actual principal of buying the truck,” he said.

“The interest for that 10-year term is what’s making a big difference for us in the Queens County fire services in purchasing trucks. It’s taken a drastic jump over the last three or four years.”

Wolfe said the cost of trucks has also risen in the past three years. He said a truck builder in Lantz reported that the cost of a custom fire chassis has jumped by about $120,000 since May 2022. The truck builder told Wolfe that his overall supply costs have also gone up by three per cent. 

Three trucks are due to be replaced over the next two fiscal years, but at the region’s lower contribution of $275,000.

Wolfe said that a one-cent increase in the tax rate now would help the fire departments cope with the increased costs.

Councillors appeared to be prepared to grant the chiefs’ request.

CAO Cody Joudry, however, suggested that staff might be able to find another way to grant the chiefs’ request without adding to the tax rate. 

After a break, Joanne Veinotte, director of corporate services, said that councillors could do what they did last year to help maintain the tax rate.

During last year’s discussions, they budgeted $442,000 from the accumulated surplus to prevent a tax rate increase. Councillors are also eyeing an estimated $650,000 surplus from 2023/24. 

Veinotte said the region didn’t actually need any of that $442,000 because they saved money on staffing and delayed capital projects. She suggested they could do the same thing this year, by pulling $126,772 from reserve funds for fire services to balance the tax rate.

“The fire department has their increase of a penny but yet you still have your no increase in tax rate. And that is something I can literally do in two minutes. So if that’s what council feels comfortable with to get this budget done and put to bed, then I can certainly do that.”

Joudry clarified that if they record a surplus in 2024/25, then the region likely wouldn’t have to dip into the accumulated surplus to pay for the fire departments’ increased truck costs.

Councillors will get the final draft of the budget on Thursday. They hope to approve it at their council meeting on Tues., April 23 at 6 p.m.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens is expecting a budget surplus of $650,000 for the 2023/24 fiscal year, largely attributed to unfilled jobs, higher property assessments and a higher than expected take from the deed transfer tax.

Mayor Darlene Norman says the surplus isn’t all good news.

“Everyone’s a bit unhappy over that large surplus from last year, because that means we have staffing vacancies which is putting great pressures, especially on our Planning and our Public Works departments,” Norman said in an interview Wednesday.

“They are the two departments that have the greatest effect on people. Public Works we have projects that we were not able to do last year, such as the Liverpool bridge rail. The Old Burial Ground wall is in drastic need of a repair. The staffing vacancy is highly alarming. We hear as elected people from people who are waiting for the building permits, who are waiting for their inspections, who are having subdivision waits. That causes difficulty for our residents when they’re building and planning, be they commercial or residential.”

Queens councillors began their 2024/25 budget deliberations on Tuesday. Staff sent them details of the draft budget a few weeks ago. Councillors had a chance on Tuesday to ask questions about the proposed budget.

The budget process was delayed this year. All municipalities are supposed to have their budgets approved by March 31.

Norman said other municipalities in Nova Scotia have missed the March 31 deadline as well. Now that the region has filled the CAO position, she said she expects a more timely approach next year.

The proposed budget is just under $30 million, with an $8.5-million capital plan. There are no proposed tax rate increases at this time. But councillors are just beginning the process.

Councillors are set to offer additions or deletions to the budget at a meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. 

Next Tuesday (April 16) at 9 a.m., Norman said the region’s fire services are scheduled to make a presentation to council where they’re expected to ask for a boost in funding.

The vote on the final budget is scheduled for April 23 at 6 p.m. All meetings are open to the public and are held at council chambers on White Point Road. And they will also be livestreamed on the region’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The region’s assessment roll increased by about 14 per cent or $148 million. That led to an estimated tax revenue increase of $1.6 million. But that meant that the amount the region pays the province for education services also went up by $500,000, for a net gain to the region of $1.1 million.

The higher-than-expected deed transfer tax revenue was about $340,000. 

Staff are also budgeting a $440,000 vacancy allowance to try to account for the difficulty in filling positions. 

“The thought is we are not going to be able to staff all those positions right away and there may be up to $440,000 of money that we have budgeted for this year that does not get spent on staffing,” Norman said.

“So we’re actually planning to be able to put that money into revenue rather than see it as an end-of-the-year surplus. It’s a tricky thing to do, because if there’s a miracle and we suddenly fill those vacant positions, then we’re going to be short that money on our revenue line on the budget. However, the last several years have not been conducive to filling some of those staff positions.”

Norman said that a couple of big capital expenses are not in the 2024/25 capital budget. The region is still working on funding for the proposed $8-million outdoor pool at Queens Place. And it is still doing studies and investigating funding for the requested $21-million extension of water and sewer services to the Mount Pleasant area.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Region of Queens Municipality administration building. (Rick Conrad photo)

The Region of Queens hasn’t approved its budget yet, so councillors had to vote this week to approve interim spending limits so that the municipality’s bills will still get paid.

Council is supposed to have a budget approved by April 1 of each year.

That didn’t happen this year, so director of corporate services Joanne Veinotte asked councillors at Tuesday’s regular meeting to approve an amount of $7.59 million to provide “spending authority and business continuity” as the fiscal year begins April 1.

Veinotte said other municipalities follow a similar process.

These are operational funds and don’t apply to capital projects.

No reason was given by staff or councillors for why the budget hasn’t been presented or approved yet. Mayor Darlene Norman was not available for an interview Thursday. 

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, CAO Cody Joudry presented a tentative schedule for the region’s budget deliberations.

Under that timeline, councillors were supposed to receive a draft budget after their meeting on Tuesday, with April 2 as the deadline for councillors to submit budget questions.

The draft budget will be available publicly by April 5 at 4 p.m. in the council agenda. It will be presented at council’s regular meeting on April 9. Two special meetings to discuss the draft budget will be held April 11 and 16, with the final draft budget presented at council’s April 23 meeting for a vote.

Under Joudry’s proposed schedule, councillors would vote on the final budget at their April 23 meeting. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect date for the Region of Queens final draft budget to be presented and voted on by councillors. The story has been updated with the correct date.

Queens County Transit has asked the Region of Queens for more funding. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County Transit has asked the Region of Queens for an extra $12,000 in funding for the 2024/25 fiscal year.

The region gave the ride service $38,000 last year.

Queens County Transit launched in 2018. It now has eight vehicles in its fleet, including five accessible vans.

In 2023, they transported 6,729 people over a distance of 218,000 kilometres.

Alex Doggett, chairman of Queens County Transit, appealed to councillors at their Tuesday meeting for a boost in funding. 

He said the service is adding two new vehicles this year to handle increased demand. And with that come extra costs.

“When you’re involved with a community program you don’t want to see it fail. And that is the key thing here that we are working with our board trying to make ends meet and keep it going.”

Councillors agreed to add the request to this year’s budget deliberations. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Photo Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens has passed a $44 million dollar budget without raising taxes.

The budget includes $27.3 million for operations, $14.4 million for capital projects, $1.7 million to operate Hillsview Acres long term care home and $798,000 for the water utility.

Residential property tax rates for 2023/24 have been set at a base of $1.07 for Districts 1-12 and $1.92 for district 13 per $100 of assessment.

Commercial rates have been set at $2.17 in Districts 1-12 and $3.02 in District 13 per $100 of assessment.

Those rates can vary depending on if a resident or business is in a zone that applies a premium to connect to municipal services or charges an area rate to fund the efforts of community organizations.

In an unusual move, council members voted to take $442,835 from their surplus account to balance the operational budget and avoid raising taxes.

Mayor Darlene Norman is worried that decision may come back to bite them next year.

“This has to be a one-time only thing. That $433,000 represents a four-cent tax rate increase,” said Norman. “Council chose not to do a four-cent tax rate increase and instead we’ve taken that operational money out of surplus. These operational costs do not go away, and they will be here next year.”

Norman is concerned pulling money from reserves to cover the operational costs this year just moves the problem into next year’s budget.

“When you’re not bringing in enough revenue to balance your expenses and you have to cut into side money, then are you really balancing your revenue with your expenses?” said Norman.

On the capital side of the budget, residents have a few big-ticket items to look forward to in 2023/24.

Some projects are ongoing such as the $3 million that has been set aside for the construction of a new library to replace the aging Thomas H Raddall in Liverpool.

The municipality is still trying to iron out a plan for the construction of a new outdoor pool.

Two million has been allocated from the Region to be added to the $3 million private donation to fund the pool’s construction.

A project manager has been hired to see if those two projects can be tied together and built alongside Queens Place Emera Centre.

The Region is also setting aside money for a couple of studies: one will look at extending the water infrastructure around Mt Pleasant for $137,000; another will see the municipality spend $175,000 to explore the possibility of moving the sidewalk to the outside of the bridge in Liverpool.

The budget also made clear the Region’s expenses are on the rise.

Policing costs for RCMP are up $200,000.

Queens also needs to increase the amount being placed in reserve for the eventual closure of the municipal landfill.

The landfill cell currently in use is scheduled to close  in 10 years and a new one opened in its place.*

The initial estimate for that effort was originally pegged at $8.5 million but as prices have continued to rise that estimate is now closer to $19 million, three times the original amount.

*An earlier version of this story indicated the landfill was set to close in ten years. Mayor Norman has clarified she meant to indicate the cell was closing, to be replaced by opening another.

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Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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