Editorial — Council will have tough decisions with budget

November 3, 2013 · 0 Comments

Caledon council has embarked on probably the toughest period of their working year; namely dealing with the budget for 2014.
That means they are going to have some tough decisions to make. We don’t envy the task that’s ahead of them, although there is also the reality that this is part of their job; part of what they get paid for and something they all knew they were going to have to face when they sought office.
Councillors, earlier this month, were publicly given the first set of budget numbers to chew on, and the current figures call for a tax increase of 4.98 per cent. Several people, including Mayor Marolyn Morrison, were quick to point out these numbers are only preliminary. There’s more discussion to come.
In fact, there was some discussion last week, as council heard from representatives of a number of community groups seeking grants for their activities. These organizations all perform important and valuable services in Caledon, but the reality is the total amount being requested is more than $90,000. Council will probably have to say “no” to some of these requests, or put forth grants that are somewhat lower than had been sought — Another tough part of the job.
It’s also important to remember that Caledon councillors control only about 35 per cent of the municipal tax bill. The rest goes to finance the operations of Peel Region and the local school boards.
As we stated above, there is still a lot of talking and debate to take place before things are finalized.
A Town Hall meeting is planned for this coming Wednesday (Nov. 6) at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall in Caledon East.
There’s your chance for input.