After some delays, Bruce County Councillors have set this year’s budget in principle.
A special corporate services meeting was held on Wednesday, and more discussions took place during yesterday’s regular round of committee meetings.
Warden Bill Goetz says they went through talks with the rest of the department heads on Thursday and arrived at a final result.
Goetz says councillors decided to go ahead with plans to hire new staff, including a new deputy clerk, web developer, and disability coordinator.
He says while it won’t affect the budget too much this year, he’s concerned the cost will come back to haunt them next year.
Goetz says 50 thousand dollars from the agricultural, tourism, and planning budget was cut. It was supposed to go to reserves to cover future official plan updates.
He says expenses were trimmed in other areas
Goetz wasn’t able to provide the exact figure, but he says the overall amount of money Bruce County plans to take in this year will be slightly lower than the original increase of 4.6 percent.
The Warden says they expect to give the budget official approval at the May 7th County Council meeting.
