2016 budget has been approved.  Property taxes will increase 2.29 %, $142 on a home with average assessed value of $664,000.  (The 2.29 is the blended rate of Township increase of 2.95%, York Region 2.85% and Education 0%.)  The budget plan is dominated by infrastructure for two good reasons:  we have a significant back log of such projects and some of our funding (e.g. gas tax, development charges) must be directed to such projects.  In 2016 the capital budget is $12.7 million which sounds a lot for King but it is small compared to  our 10 year capital plan of $193 million.   There were a couple non infrastructures programs/projects which I wanted to see funded but my Council colleagues did not agree; and for sure, I was not prepared to propose reducing allocations to reserves to fund them or to drop projects recommended.

Below I have listed a number of the programs budgeted for 2016; for a complete review you can review the budget documents here.

• road & sidewalk repairs to southwest quadrant of King City,
• King City Memorial Park  baseball diamond and playground reconstruction,
• Church Street (Schomberg) reconstruction,
• phase 1 of Genview Park which is  adjacent to Cultural & Heritage Centre,
• Collard Street pumping station improvements,
• re-purposing former arena and community centre in Schomberg for use by Parks Division equipment,
• increasing resources for our Parks maintenance via contract,
• hiring a construction inspector as opposed to contract services which will generate savings and increase level of customer service
• implementation of remote water meter reading and billing system; this follows on the 3 year program to replace water meters.  When implemented there will be virtually real time reading; users will be able to see consumption patterns which can assist in conservation and will facilitate tracking of problems.