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Wednesday, September 8, 2010
BUDGET
The budget of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell is adopted annually by the Council and is then implemented by the Treasurer. The document presents details of all sources of income and how these amounts will be spent through the fiscal year in order to offer services to the residents of the Counties. The Counties’ fiscal year goes from January 1st to December 31st.
Over 80% of the regional budget goes to expenses related to Provincial Court services that the United Counties are required to offer, including several programs related to social services and infrastructures:
- Ontario at Work Program
- General Assistance and Income Service Program
- The Ontario Disability Support Program
- Ontario Drug Benefits
- Childcare Services
- Social Housing
- Maintenance of Highway 17
- Ambulance and Emergency Services
The Counties also contribute to the Eastern Ontario Health Unit and bear the cost related to property evaluations done by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation for the entirety of local municipalities.
Sources of income
The programs and services offered by the regional government are financed by 3 government levels :
- The Federal Government
- The Provincial Government
- The local Municipalities
The local municipalities’ contribution is paid out to the Counties through the requisition.
The budget comprises of the Operating Budget and fixed assets acquisitions.
The Operating Budget
In this part of the Budget, we can find all incomes and expenses for the fiscal year needed to finance the current services, such as :
Social Services
Social Services
- Emergency Services
- Maintenance of County Roads
- Urban Planning Services
- Economic Growth Initiatives
- Costs related to the Administration of all the Programs
The Operating budget 2010, consists of disbursements totaling 124,199,132 $ and was approved by Council on April 27th, 2010.
Fixed assets acquisitions
Fixed assets acquisitions include :
- Land
- Construction of bridges and roads
- Construction of major buildings
- Purchase of heavy equipment, ambulances, vehicules and equipment.
Requisition
The Requisition amount presented to the Municipalities is calculated according to the difference between the total amount of anticipated income from the Federal and Provincial Governments and the total amount of planned expenses in the global budget.
The United Counties of Prescott and Russell’s 2010 Requisition for the eight municipalities was 32.7 millions $, which represents 30% of the total budget.
The Requisition for each Municipality is set according to the property assessment total, multiplied by the property taxes rate.
Property Taxes Rate in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell
The Property Taxes Rate for each layer of 100 000 $ is the same in all of Prescott and Russell’s Municipalities, according to property classification. This rate is set out by the Council upon approval of the budget.
The Property Tax amount liable to the UCPR is stated on the property taxes bill the taxpayers receive from their Municipality.
Property Assessment
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation is responsible for evaluating the assessed value for each Ontario property.
Municipal Tax Rate
This rate is set by the Council of each Municipality. It is then multiplied the amount of the property assessment in order to get the property tax amount to pay.
School Tax Rate
The Province sets this rate annually. It is then multiplied by the amount of the property assessment for the residential class in order to get the school tax amount to pay.
You can view the archives of previous years here