Residential property taxes in Alfred and Plantagenet 2024 will increase by an average of $55.
That’s because the township will be collecting 3.8 per cent more in property taxes this year than in 2023. The total value of the 2024 municipal budget is $17,461,831. The operations budget comprises $14,331,849 of that total and the capital budget makes up the remaining $3,129,982.
Residential taxation is projected to be $8,700,158 in 2024 and will be the largest source of municipal revenue. The second-largest source of revenue is a significant Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) grant of $1,484,000 from the Ontario government. It will go towards a $1,802,285 road infrastructure improvement plan. Six roads across the municipality will be paved and upgrades will be made to sidewalks on four streets in Plantagenet in 2024.
Other grant funding for Alfred and Plantagenet in 2024 will include $516,000 from the provincial government’s Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF), $312,000 in federal gas tax revenue, and $245,000 from the United Counties of Prescott and Russell Road Fund.
The township is attempting to address the shortage of electric vehicle charging stations. This year, it plans to spend $40,000 to install four new charging stations at locations still to be announced.
The most significant capital project for recreational facilities in Alfred and Plantagenet in 2024 will be a $198,000 upgrade of the Alfred skate park.
The 2024 Alfred and Plantagenet municipal budget was adopted at a special meeting of Alfred and Plantagenet council on December 18, 2023. Councillor Ian Walker requested a registered vote.
Councillors Jean-Pierre Cadieux, Benoit Lamarche, and Antoni Viau voted in favour of the budget. Mayor Yves Laviolette also voted in favour. Walker voted against the budget. Walker, a second-term councillor re-elected in 2022, said this was the sixth time he has voted against the adoption of a budget. As in 2023, he cited policing costs and the needs of women victims of domestic violence as his reason for opposing the budget. Walker alleged 82 women across Prescott and Russell and Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry counties were rejected assistance by women’s shelter Maison Interlude House in 2023 due to a lack of resources. He also said the cost of policing never gets enough discussion. He alleged the township spends $1.6 million per year on service from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
“I have very much trouble voting for the police when they don’t seem to get it together and people are not getting service,” Walker said.
However, Alfred and Plantagenet does not have a fixed contract with the OPP for service, or a police services board which accompanies contract arrangements. Instead, Alfred and Plantagenet receives OPP services under an alternative provision in legislation which allows municipalities to receive policing services without having a police services board or contract with the OPP. Therefore, policing costs are not an actual line item in the township’s budget.
