Council committee recommends tax rates at status quo

Residents and businesses in rural areas of the county will not see a rise in their tax rate.

Coun. David Parker, chair of the finance committee for the Municipality of the County of Pictou, recommended to council Monday that it approve an operating budget of $17.2 million and tax rates remain the same as the previous year at $0.81 for residential and $1.82 for commercial.

‘It is a fair budget,” said Parker. “Some things we have control over and other things we don’t. We try to keep a tight rein on the things that we do.”

For example, he said, both protective services and education are the county’s two largest expenditures and each has increased by 2.5 per cent this year. Protective services comes in at $4.4 million and education is $4.7 million. The county is expecting to draw in $15.5 million in revenue from taxes, a 2.2 per cent increase over last year. Parker said the increase is not from a rise in the tax rate, but rather in assessment values.

Council also approved its five-year capital budget with $12 million being allotted in the first year. A large portion of the money will go to completing the McLellans Brook-Plymouth sewer projects as well as the Alma Springfield Estates water and sewer and Abercombie sewer. Sidewalks will also be done for MacGregor Avenue, near the Pictou County Wellness Centre, Riverton for an area near the Riverview home and Alma between Northumberland Regional High School and a nearby convenience store. Solar panels will be installed at the municipal office.