By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—Haldimand County Council has reviewed and approved the first of its three annual budgets, the 2023 Rate-Supported Operating and Capital Budget, also known as the water and wastewater budget.
Residents using these services will see a 1.83% increase to their monthly bills, equalling a total of roughly $1.54/month more than they were paying in 2022. Unlike the Capital and Operating budgets, sewer and water services must be funded through user rates and fees and cannot be subsidized by the general tax base.
Ahead of the budget meeting last Thursday, members of Haldimand’s new Council got a chance to tour the County’s water and wastewater facilities to gain a better understanding of how they operate, and the associated costs.
“As members of Council who had the opportunity to go on the tour last week know, we have a number of pretty expensive to own and operate sewer and water systems and other collection and distribution systems that we’re responsible for,” said County CAO Craig Manley during the budget presentation. “As a result of that, the rates can be very sensitive to change. There’s just under 11,000 users who actually pay for the sewer and water systems in the county.”
Manley said that the 2023 budget was influenced by several factors, including rising insurance rates, but the biggest is inflation: “As we’ve all probably experienced in our own life. The cost of everything seems to be going up, but as it relates to this budget, there’s materials, chemicals, supplies, and there’s cost-of-living increases that are built into our contractual obligations with the workers at the plant.”
With Haldimand still purchasing water from Hamilton to service Caledonia and Cayuga, Haldimand’s overall budget is also impacted by rate increases brought forward by Hamilton, however continued population growth helps the County to offset those costs.
Haldimand was surprised recently as Hamilton upgraded their metering system, resulting in more accurate measurements and the discovery of an approximate $1 million deficit. Haldimand is on the hook to pay those funds back, with the backpay built into the 2023 budget.
Manley said the initial plan was to phase in that impact over three years and use the County’s rate stabilization reserves, “so we weren’t spiking it and then going down.” However, County staff changed routes to handle the bill immediately: “The reason for that is, we’re in economic uncertainty. I don’t know where we’re going to be next year, I don’t know where inflation is going, we don’t know the impact of some of the legislative changes we’ve talked about, and staff felt it was really important to bring forward a budget that, as much as possible, unencumbers future budgets.”
Manley noted the increase is in line with forecasts last year of 2%. Additionally, a County press release noted Haldimand’s water and wastewater rates remain below the provincial average and lower than nearby comparable communities due to “ongoing strategic planning efforts and diligent asset management practices.”
The budget allots roughly $20 million toward capital works projects across 2023, and just over $200 million over the next 10 years.
Major projects scheduled to begin in 2023 that will pull from that funding include construction of a secondary Highway 6 water transmission main and the construction of a new elevated water tank and in-ground reservoir in Caledonia.
County staff will continue to actively monitor external pressures on water and wastewater services over the next four-year Council term to “properly plan for any potential mitigation that may be required,” said the release. “Senior staff will continue to monitor the political environment and lobby against changes that may impact the affordability of water rates in Ontario.”
Manley concluded, “The forecast is based on a pretty good understanding of what we need, but it also includes measures related to new infrastructure, expanded infrastructure to deal with growth related matters.”
Haldimand County is scheduled to present its second annual budget, the Tax-Support Capital Budget, on February 2, 2023. The final budget, the Tax-Supported Operating Budget, is up for discussion and review on March 2, 2023.
