While Chatham-Kent's population appears to be increasing, it’s still not enough to keep up with the ongoing challenge of covering the municipality's infrastructure costs.
That's according to a report from BMA Management Consulting Inc., which released its 2020 municipal study for Chatham-Kent. The company studies the financial position of major municipalities across the province.
The study, presented to Chatham-Kent council Monday night, showed that the municipality’s population is estimated to have increased since the last census was completed in 2016. However, due to Chatham-Kent's large geographical size, population density continues to pose a challenge when it comes to the tax burden for shared costs like infrastructure.
According to the study, Chatham-Kent’s population density is 43 people for every square kilometre of land (2,458 km²). For comparison, out of 110 other municipalities in the study, the average population density was 549 residents per km². The municipality of Windsor has 1,587 residents per km², while London’s population density is 1,013 people for every km².
Manager of Revenue Amy McLellan said that poses a significant challenge for the municipality because it means a small population has to maintain a large area of land.
“Chatham-Kent has a low population density, meaning there are fewer people to pay for the required infrastructure and services such as roads, bridges, water and wastewater over wide geographic areas,” said McLellan.
Chatham-Kent’s average household income for 2020 was $80,595, which was ranked the 12th lowest out of the 110 municipalities in the survey. The study average was $107,715. Despite this, there was some good news for the municipality in terms of finances.
Chatham-Kent’s financial position has been trending upwards over the past decade and is currently sitting at $1,509 per capita (a measurement of total municipal assets minus financial liabilities), which is well above the survey average of $687 per capita. The way the municipality manages its finances also looked optimistic. It was revealed that for every 40 cents of debt, Chatham-Kent has $1 of reserves, compared to the survey average of 80 cents of debt per $1 of reserves.
When it comes to property taxes, Chatham-Kent is hovering above average. Property taxes in the municipality for a two storey home averaged around $4,886 versus the study average of $4,714.
