Council adopts sustainable water and wastewater capital budget
City of Kawartha Lakes council deliberated and approved the proposed 2018 water and wastewater capital budget at the Oct. 31 special council meeting.
The budget is supported by the property owners who use the City’s water and wastewater services. It is not part of the tax-supported capital budget.
Council was presented with the good news that due to a multi-year grant from the federal and provincial governments and other cost saving measures, the City’s water and wastewater systems are now fully sustainable.
In fact, despite the extensive requirements of 21 water and 6 wastewater systems, as of 2018, there is no longer an infrastructure deficit.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve turned the corner on our water and wastewater budget,” says Mayor Andy Letham.
“We are now spending what we need to maintain and upgrade our systems, and with the support from other levels of government, we can look forward to lower user rate increases. Going into the operating budget, we’ve already reduced our projected user rate increase for 2018 from four per cent to three per cent and we’ll finalize the numbers next month.”
Water and Wastewater Budget Highlights
Spending $930,000 more in capital replacement over 2017
- Immediate elimination of the infrastructure deficit
- Grant contribution of $1.1 million in 2018 from the small communities fund
- User rates will be favourably impacted by the capital budget and will be finalized next month with the Operating Budget
Council will deliberate the 2018 Operating Budget (including the Tax-Supported Operating Budget and the Water and Wastewater Operating Budget) on Dec. 13 at 9 am in council chambers, and on Dec. 14 at 9 am if required.
All are welcome to attend and provide comment.
