Southwest Middlesex What's New - January 11, 2023

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Southwest Middlesex Council Highlights - January 11, 2023

Council Highlights is an informal summary of selected actions taken by Southwest Middlesex council and are not an official record of council proceedings.  To view official agendas and minutes, please visit Agendas and Minutes.

Afternoon Session

The afternoon session was the first 2023 budget meeting for Southwest Middlesex.  Council received a budget process overview which included legislative requirements under the Municipal Act, and details about what information is used to develop the budget.  The information received by council included yearly assessment changes since 2019, yearly budget changes since 2019, along with a list of capital projects completed during the same span of years. 

The Treasurer explained the budget process noting that senior staff use a combination of Council Directives, historical information, departmental business plans, and the asset management plan to determine what their financial needs for the upcoming year will be.   The Treasurer combines these requests with any reserve that could be utilized and funds/grants that are anticipated to arrive at an overall budget requested amount.

 Once the budget is set, staff are able to govern their departments accordingly.  If any unplanned expense arises over $5,000, it must come back to council for approval.  Once a municipality has determined it’s requirements by adopting a capital and operating budget, the total is divided by the total of the weighted assessments (provided by MPAC), and then multiplied by the tax ratio of each of the tax classes.  These ratios, determined by the upper tier (County of Middlesex), are as follows:
 
  • Residential – 1
  • Multi-Residential – 1.7697
  • Farm/Managed Forest – 0.25
  • Parking Lot/Commercial/Commercial Vacant – 1.1449
  • Industrial/Industrial Vacant – 1.7451
  • Pipeline – 1.0555
  • Landfill – 1.1
 The municipality is also responsible for collecting taxes on behalf of the County and School Board and turning those funds over to them.  These rates also make up the total rate charged to each ratepayer.
Evening Session

Annual Planning Report

County representatives presented the annual report to council noting that land use planning decisions have long-term implications  for  the  protection of  resources  and  the growth  and  development  of  the  communities  within Middlesex County.   Good  planning  leads  to  orderly  growth,  the  efficient provision  of  services,  and  desirable  change  -  better places to live.

The following image shows the number of planning applications that have been processed in Southwest Middlesex since 2016.  It is expected that the number of planning applications will continue to increase in future years.

Southwest Middlesex Planning Applications Processed

Election Accessibility Report

The Clerk reported that no issues were discovered with the Election Accessibility Plan from the 2022 municipal election.  The report will be reviewed again prior to the 2026 municipal election.

Snowplow RFQ Results

Council accepted the quote of Sam Kirschner for snowplowing services at the following properties - West Lore Reservoir, Wardsville Fire Station,  Wardsville Sidewalks, Melbourne Sidewalks and Elm Day Care.  

Upcoming Meetings:

January 25 - Budget Meeting

January 25 - Council Meeting

February 8 - Budget Meeting

February 8 - Council Meeting

Full details of the information presented to council is available through Agendas & Minutes or you can listen to the council meeting on our YouTube channel.