If it’s like previous surveys, only a few hundred will participate although you’d think more would care about their tax increase. I don’t recall any budget surveys in previous years but then the proposed 8.06% hike is the biggest for some time.  The key question asked is about which services are important and there are only three specific budget items mentioned: the Centennial pool, the trial of fixed route Transit and the idea of a 1% infrastructure levy. It’s not a big survey but it might help Council understand what people are thinking. It starts with personal questions on age, income and how long you’ve lived in Cobourg then asks which services are important. One key service not included is… Read complete articleTown Publishes Budget Survey

Town Staff have now presented their draft budget to Council and it was in a different format to previous years. Instead of spreadsheets, each department used the same format highlighting key drivers, savings, large operating increases, special projects and capital requirements. But first, the new director of Finance, Adam Giddings provided a summary highlighting additional staff, main budget drivers, increases by department and the overall increase compared to inflation. Adam presented numbers to show that budget increases over the last 5 years have not kept pace with inflation. He also gave the total expected tax levy increase: 8.06% compared to 6.6% in 2023 – both numbers after accounting for growth. But this is what Town staff are asking for (recommending)… Read complete articleCobourg’s 2024 Draft Budget

At the close of the first day of a two day budget session (Dec 12 and 13), Mayor Lucas Cleveland moved two motions that would be major changes to the budget setting process and to tax rates. Lucas is concerned with two things: first, when staff are added partway through the coming year, the budget impact is less than a full year so there is a hit in the following years that is not really considered. To fix this, Lucas wants the full year cost added to the budget and any unused amount transferred to a reserve to be used for future staffing needs. This was the subject of a motion he made which passed.  The second concern was more… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland stirs Budget Pot

At the Committee of the Whole Council meeting on 27 November, the planning department asked that they be delegated to make some key decisions – this will help speed up planning activity and make it more efficient. The idea of delegation was suggested in KPMG’s Service Delivery Report from November 2020 plus the organizational review in October 2021 but at this time, only 5 tasks are being requested to be delegated. At the same meeting, they unveiled a new tool that is now in place and will provide the public with information on current planning department activity. The “dashboard” lists 35 current applications dating back to October 2019 – to get details, click on an icon in the map provided… Read complete articleCobourg Planning Department Changes

In 2019, it was proposed to move the Concert Hall Box Office to the lobby of Victoria Hall. It would also be a reception desk and function as a Visitor Information Centre. The estimated cost was $40K.  At the time, Council decided to defer the project primarily because of budget considerations. But at the Committee of the Whole meeting on 27 November, 2023, Council approved spending $15K on a “Centralized Customer Services Desk located within the front foyer of Victoria Hall in the current location of the existing Security Desk”. The idea was to have a single point of contact for all Town Departments. Requests and complaints would be input at the desk into a data base so as to give a better understanding… Read complete articleService Desk in Victoria Hall Lobby

At their meeting on 13 November, Cobourg Council accepted the recommendation of the new Treasurer Adam Giddings, to set the target for the 2024 Operating budget increase at 6%. Then assuming a growth in the tax base of 1%, the resulting increase in the levy (the amount we pay) would be 5%.  Adam says that previous increases have not quite kept pace with inflation so there is a small catch up in the 5% figure.  Adam says that the alternative is a reduction in services – he does not discuss improvements in efficiency or productivity. The next steps in the budget process will be provided in the Committee of the Whole meeting on 27 November. There will be two public meetings: 1) to… Read complete articleBudget for 2024

At a special meeting on Monday, Council made a number of key decisions on Governance and then approved the change.  The current system using coordinators and several advisory committees was not seriously discussed; instead details of the new system proposed by staff were thrashed out.  I counted five significant decisions but there were more, albeit minor ones.  Mayor Cleveland was in good form and did a good job organizing the debate.  He started by asking councillors in turn to say what they wanted to change from the staff proposal.  Then after debate, there was a motion and vote for each “change”.  Described briefly, the new system changes the way Councillors and Council meetings are organized to be more like how… Read complete articleNew Governance Approved by Cobourg Council