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Budget & Finance

Annual Municipal Budget Planning

The budgeting process allows municipalities to prioritize projects, programs and service levels based on anticipated revenue and expenses. In Callander, one of our primary sources for budget planning is our Strategic Plan, which helps guide us to determine what the priorities are each year. More information about our Strategic Plan is available on our Plans and Strategies Page. Typically, a municipality's annual budget routinely consists of 2 components:

  1. Operating budget plans for day-to-day expenditures such as:
    1. Salaries, wages and benefits
    2. Materials and supplies
    3. Equipment and building maintenance
    4. Heat and Hydro
  2. Capital budget plans for the purchase, financing of assets or improvement of existing infrastructure such as:
    1. Road resurfacing projects
    2. Major building repairs/enhancements
    3. Building construction
    4. Major park developments
    5. New construction projects

Budgets are "forward-looking" documents. They report a municipality's planned revenue and the cost of public services for an annual or multi-year period (Source: Ontario.ca).

Video from the Municipal Finance Officer's Association, click hereThis link opens in a new window.
Video from the Municipal Finance Officer's Association, click here.

 

Reserve Funds

For the downloadable PDF about how Reserves and Reserve Funds Work, click here.

Reserve funds are a lot like a savings account for a Municipality. Reserves are typically part of an overall strategy for funding operating programs and projects. These funds help offset unexpected expenses or revenue shortfalls. Reserves and reserve funds are an important tool for a municipality's long-term financial sustainability. Setting money aside for unavoidable events (like floods) and for capital projects (like road repairs) reduces the need for long-term borrowing or imposing sudden tax increases on current or future tax-payers. However, just like a regular savings account, when you take money out of reserves it also needs to be returned at a later time.

Schedule A2 - Reserve and Reserve Funds 2023 - AMENDED

By-law 2023-1806 - To Adopt a Reserve and Reserve Fund Policy

By-law 2023-1806 - Schedule A - Policy 014 - Reserve and Reserve Fund Policy

By-law 2023-1806 - Schedules B and C - Policy 014 - Reserve and Reserve Fund Policy

The Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Callander adopts two annual budgets by by-law each year: a General Ratepayers’ Budget and a Water & Wastewater Budget.

  • The General Ratepayer's Budget encompasses the operating and capital revenues and expenses for municipal-wide services.
  • The Water & Wastewater Budget consists of the revenues and expenditures involved in treating and distributing water and wastewater to residents. This budget is funded through user fees associated with utility billing, as well as reserves and other revenue. In this way, the Water & Wastewater Budget aims to be self-funded, rather than requiring additional funds from the entire tax base.

General Ratepayer's Budget

Water & Wastewater

How are taxes calculated?

How will the taxation increase affect me personally?

What are the contributing factors that resulted in a taxation increase?

 

How are taxes calculated?

There are two components to calculating municipal taxes:

  1. The Overall Assessment Value
    1. Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assesses values of properties typically every four years. The assessed value is phased-in over a 4-year timeframe.
    2. MPAC did not conduct the 2020 assessment, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Properties throughout Ontario remain at their 2016 assessed value.
    3. A Municipality’s overall assessment can also be captured by new builds, additions to homes or construction of accessory structures.
  2. Municipal Tax Rate
    1. The tax rate fluctuates based on what Council decides it needs to collect in order to provide the expected level of service, and any other objectives they may have for that given year.

 

If the assessed value goes up, there is less impact on the tax rate. If the assessed value goes down, or remains the same, there may be a need for the tax rate to increase in order to provide the expected level of service.

How will the taxation increase affect me personally?

MPAC Assessed Value

Annual Amount Increase

Monthly Cost Increase

$100,000

 $51.39

 $4.28

$150,000

 $77.09

 $6.42

$200,000

 $102.78

 $8.57

$250,000

 $128.48

 $10.71

$300,000

 $154.17

 $12.85

$350,000

 $179.87

 $14.99

$400,000

 $205.56

 $17.33

$450,000

 $231.26

 $19.27

$500,000

 $256.96

 $21.41

$550,000

 $282.65

 $23.55

 

What are the contributing factors that resulted in a taxation increase?

No assessment increases from MPAC

  • MPAC has always reassessed properties on a 4-year basis, as described above. It was supposed to occur in 2020, however due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 assessment was deferred. The re-assessment has not yet taken place, and conversations with MPAC indicate that there is no confirmation as to when it will.
  • Currently, properties throughout Ontario are based on 2016 assessed values.
  • This is the third year in a row that the Municipality has gone without any assessment increases from MPAC.
  • New builds in Callander only contributed an additional $30,000 in assessment this year.

Cost of Living

  • The cost of living went up 7% in 2023. Heat, hydro and gas, all went up more than 20%. Basic materials and supplies that are necessary to complete the work were in some instances, double the price, due to shortages.

Strategic Objectives

  • Council adopted action plans and capital plans to ensure that projects move forward.
  • Annual contributions towards these plans were necessary in order to ensure projects continued and maintained progress.

Capital Asset Management Plan

  • Annual contributions to infrastructure rehabilitation have not been adequate in years past. The asset management plan indicates a need to contribute $1,500,000 towards infrastructure rehabilitation, be it in capital projects or dedication to reserves, moving forward, to ensure assets remain in good shape.

Financial statements are "backward-looking" documents. They report on the actual resources used by the municipalities and the full cost of the services delivered to the public in that year.

The municipality's financial statements at the end of the year may differ from their original budget for several reasons:

  • Since a municipality usually prepares a modified accrual budget the initial estimates in a modified accrual budget will be different from the actual financial results at the end of the fiscal year.
  • The difference between the estimated and actual expenses will either result in a surplus or deficit for budgeting purposes. Unplanned events — like a natural disaster or unusually heavy snowfalls — might require a municipality to spend money that it may not have planned for in the budget, resulting in a financial statement deficit.

Long-term financial planning considers a municipality's long-term costs and investments over a multi-year period (ex. 10 years) and considers things like:

  • the costs of inflation
  • development of new infrastructure
  • funding for service enhancements
  • the replacement costs of existing assets.

Just like personal financial planning, it is important to plan for upcoming expenses and save for them gradually, rather than having huge expenses come up all at once (Source: Ontario.ca).

2022 Consolidated Financial Statements

December 31, 2021 Financial Statements - Callander

Report on 2022 Council Honoraria and Planning Committees Expenses

Municipality of Callander Drinking Water System Financial Plan (2020-2026)

2022 Asset Management Plan