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CBS facing ‘some very tough and serious’ budget decisions

By Craig Westcott/November 4, 2022

Three weeks ago, it was the Holyrood council whose members were wringing their hands and warning of rising cost pressures as work begins on crafting a new budget for next year.

Tuesday, it was the turn of CBS councillors, who, to judge by their comments, are worried about how tough it’s going to be to hold the line on expenditures in 2023.

The problem is global inflation that is not only driving up costs, but also leading the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates in the hope of taming it. Higher interest rates, of course, mean higher borrowing costs.

Three times during this week’s public council meeting, someone raised the challenge facing the Town.

The first was councillor-at-large Rex Hillier, who thanked those members of the public who turned up last week at a drop-in consultation session at the Legion in Kelligrews to share their thoughts on what the Town’s budget priorities should be.

“It was great to have an opportunity to meet people face to face,” Hillier said. “That’s something we haven’t done a lot in the last few years. We didn’t have a big number (show up), but everybody who came, came with a legitimate concern and I just want to thank them for dropping in.”

Six minutes later, it was the turn of Mayor Darrin Bent.

“We are into full budget discussions,” Bent said, “and council and staff are going over everything that needs to be looked at and looking at the expenses and revenues and seeing where we’re going to fall this year. And I don’t think it’s going to come as any surprise to anyone that everything costs more. The price of everything has gone up. You see it when you go to the gas station. When you go to the supermarket to try to buy anything, you pretty well can’t get it, or it’s more money. And it’s no different for municipalities. It’s the same for our municipality. We’re facing those very same challenges. It’s a challenging year and we’re going to be faced over the next couple of weeks with some very tough and serious decisions to make for our community going through the next year. We’ll work very hard on that to make the best possible decisions to ensure the services that we have (are protected) and to ensure that the Town is operated properly in the way that the citizens expect it to be operated. But there will have to be some decisions made on that note.”

Bent said council is looking to the public to hear its suggestions to see what can be incorporated in the budget.

The last person to raise the budget talks was the chairperson of council’s finance committee, Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse, who broached the subject during her committee report near the end of the meeting. She too noted the public discussion at the Legion, citing an ATV trail, inflation, sidewalks, and ongoing construction projects as among the subjects raised.

“Of course, inflation is at the top of everyone’s mind these days,” said Gosse. “We’re living with it day to day. Every time you go to the supermarket, or you fill up with gas, it’s a surprise. So, we’re keeping that top in our mind. The inflation rate and the price of everything is certainly affecting the Town and the Town’s day to day business, and moving forward, we’re keeping that in mind. We’re going to dig deep, we’re going to do our best, but these are not easy times… Our online survey is complete and we’re going to have some roundtable discussions to follow up, and as much input as we can get form the public, we want to hear from you, and we’re going to do our best by you.”

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