By Cecilia Nasmith
Cobourg's budget is approved for 2020, following Monday's council meeting.
The motion for approval put forth by Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin set the capital budget at $8,982,728, and noted four amendments to the operating budget that came along late in the process.
Based on a request from the Cobourg Police Service Board, the police general operating budget was reduced by $25,000 and the police capital budget for firearms acquisition was amended to include a $25,000 contribution from the municipal tax levy.
A Jan. 13 resolution at council called for the personnel budget to be increased beyond what was originally contemplated, the difference between the two amounts being $105,000.
Based on staff recommendations, the forestry services operating budget was increased by $20,000, with a corresponding $20,000 reduction to the transfer from the Tree Levy Reserve.
An additional $200,000 transfer was made to the operating budget from the Holdco Dividend Reserve Account.
In the end, the operating budget has come out at $24,686,992.
The approved budget represents a 2.9% increase over 2019 and a net 1.9% increase after allowing for new assessment growth of 1%.
Mayor John Henderson congratulated all participants on meeting the 1.9% target set at the beginning of the budget process, and thanked all involved for their work to achieve it.
