Huron County councillors will be facing a challenge when they start budget deliberations next month.
CAO Brenda Orchard says department heads have presented their draft budgets to council over the last two weeks with no debate, and that has resulted in a proposed budget increase of just over 5%.
Orchard says council hasn't set a target, but they realize times are difficult for ratepayers as well as lower-tier municipalities and that will be their focus when budget deliberations start on February 4.
Councillors also acknowledge that taking money out of reserves to cover operating costs isn't the solution so Orchard says they'll be looking for ways to find efficiencies and cut costs where they can, without sacrificing service.
Orchard says the county has seven unions and they've had several contract negotiations over the past year that have resulted in average wage increases of about two per cent. Added to that is the fact that Ontario Municipal Partnership Funding has been cut by 1.1% so Orchard says they are already 3.1% in the hole without any increases.
