Difficult Decision for Municipal Leaders

The Kenora District Services Board is asking Municipal leaders to approve a $41-million budget for 2012.
That’s up over $2-million from this year and would cost Municipalities more than $15-million or 3.5%.
CAO Dan McNeill says there are a number of contributing factors to the increase.
The Ontario Works budget has gone up 12.9% and the Emergency Medical Services budget has increased 7.5%.
The budget also includes $12.5-million for wages.
McNeill says the budget also includes a 10-year plan to fix aging housing units, ambulances and other emergency equipment.
The Board will draw substantial amount of funds from reserves during the first three years of the plan.
The budget for housing renewal is $2.2-million next year, while the budget for emergency services renewal is $582,000.
The Board is scheduled to vote on the budget on December 15th.