Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan says the biggest issue is council has dealt with this year is tax increases and the challenge for rural municipalities in particular to hold the line as funding from the province declines.
MacLellan says council has spent most of the year on a service review that looks at all of the services provided by the municipality in the hope of finding some efficiencies to offset the reduction in Ontario Municipal Partnership Funding.
"I think what stands out for me is the realization of how serious the tax situation is getting for the ratepayers with the downloading of the OMPF funding. It's become a real problem and it's certainly caused some problems with the council, but I think right now council is trying very hard to work together to find ways to save the taxpayers some money," says MacLellan.
MacLellan adds the last three items they looked at were the size of council; whether the Vanastra Day Centre should be run by the municipality or operated some other way, but still in the Vanastra Rec Centre; and the status of their recreational facilities balanced against what might be needed in the next five to ten years.
MacLellan adds one of the questions they considered regarding recreation was, given the size of the municipality, if a few arena is needed in the future, should it be built in town or in a central location.
