The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Board of Directors recently approved their 2020 budget coming in at a 1.5% overall increase from last year.
The participating municipalities still need to review and pass the budget through themselves, something the municipality of Bluewater didn’t do in late December.
After much deliberation, council voted 7-2 in favour of asking the ABCA to come back to them with a 0% budget increase for 2020.
Mayor Paul Klopp told myFM in a December interview and again this week (6) the substantial reserve funds within the ABCA could’ve covered all cuts made to conservation authorities by the province, and the proposed budget increase didn’t make sense.
Asked if council expects to pass this revised budget despite it not being near the 0% they hoped for, Klopp says that’ll be a discussion they’ll have to have around the horseshoe. He notes the due diligence is just part of a budget process and they’ll do the same for the ABCA budget as they do their own and any other budgets which come through the chambers.
