Wawa Municipal Council's had its first look at this year's operating budget.
A month after seeing the initial draft for the capital budget, Council looked at the proposed operating budget for 2026, told staff sought to keep increases down - limiting a rise in payroll by cutting the Asset Management Coordinator position while transit operation's been brought in-house - but it does include an increased contribution to infrastructure and higher insurance costs, while OPP costs are up 11% and Algoma Public Health's levy is up 8%, and capital purchases and construction costs continue to rise, but the province still has not reassessed properties since 2016, which means taxation's based on values a decade old.
In the end, the proposed budget is set to rise 0.07% - $10,692 - to $15,911,272, though it proposes a levy of $5,879,623 - up $220,276 from 2025, an increase of 3.89% - along with a 1.8% increase of the capital levy introduced last year - combined, those increases are expected to amount to $13.74 more per month or $164.91 for the year for a house of $100,000 assessed value.
It also proposes an 8% rise in the water rate - from $1.07 per cubic meter to $1.16 - and a 4% rise in the sewer fee - from 57 to 59 cents per cubic meter - moves expected to amount to a $5.45 rise in the average monthly bill - or $65.45 for the year - for the average single detached house using 70 cubic meters of water and 61 of sewer - Council was told that while water and wastewater usage had been dropping from 2020 to 2024, it actually rose in 2025, nearly back to 2024's level.
Treasurer Heather Rainville - who was delivering her first budget in that role - also noted the capital budget has been modified from the version presented in February, cut down from about $5.77-million to about $5.4-million with some change in the source of funding for a few projects, while about $310,000 more will be put away for long-term capital planning this year, and $430,000 more in 2027.
While it was noted Council has options to lower the levy increase - including reducing capital projects, cutting services, using reserves, increasing user fees, or eliminating the capital levy increase - those were not recommended, and Council seemed in favour of approving the budget as presented.
The full presentation can be viewed on the Municipality's YouTube channel, with public input to be accepted until Friday, March 13th, so the budget - operating and capital - can be brought for a vote in Council's next meeting, on Tuesday, March 17th.
Council's also expected to vote on the schedule of fees in that meeting, though it would not include changes for certain seasonal items like curling and ice fees, which would be reviewed with any changes to be proposed ahead of next season.