City councillors are set to make some more cuts to the proposed budget as deliberations continue this week.
When the draft budget was initially released, the municipality projected a tax increase of 4.74 per cent for 2022. Now, with the second night of deliberations in the books, the proposed tax increase now sits at 2.99 per cent.
Chatham-Kent Councillor and Budget Chair Brock McGregor said there have been a lot of discussions and some significant changes have been made so far.
"We've had two pretty filled days," said McGregor. "Which is what we expect but with the budget process, anything we change at any point can be revisited. So, nothing is finalized until we get to that point."
Heading into night three of deliberations, McGregor said there are a few big-ticket items left to discuss. He said expects there to be some discussion around ambulance service, the possible tennis bubble, and a one-time contribution for a withdrawal management unit at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
"It's tough to predict exactly where it will go," said McGregor. "There is still a significant amount of discussion left. We will see if we get it done Tuesday but it could continue into Wednesday."
While council is tasked with trying to find efficiencies, Ward 5 Councillor Aaron Hall said councillors also have to ensure the tax burden and potential increase is not detrimental to residents across Chatham-Kent.
"We need to ensure residents are able to continue to receive the services that are important to them and have come to expect," said Hall. "This year, in particular, has increased pressures when it comes to inflation, which impacts the infrastructure projects that the municipality has to pay for."
Though further cuts have been made, Hall said he feels the tax impact is not where it needs to be.
"We have more to do," said Hall. "I know many of my colleagues are working hard to find areas in the budget to trim back without leaving a burden for the next term of council."
Ward 2 Councillor Trevor Thompson said he was disappointed that council decided to not cut $250,000 out of the police budget last week.
"I thought that was a fairly responsible thing to do but the rule of the council was to go in another direction," said Thompson. "Beyond that, we have got it down to 2.99 per cent, which is a solid start."
Unsure of where the budget will go, Thompson said councillors could wrap the budget up on Tuesday.
"I don't know how much circling back there is going to be, I think a lot of the decisions we have made are pretty definitive," said Thompson. "There's still some conversations to be had but it's hard to say."
Deliberations will continue Tuesday. If needed, Wednesday and Thursday have also been set aside. The meetings run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
