The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority’s budget for 2012 includes a 6 per cent levy hike for the city of Owen Sound.
Conservation Authority CAO John Cottrill and Board Chair Dick Hibma visited city council on Monday night to present the draft budget.
Owen Sound will be asked to pay just over 230 thousand dollars this year — an increase of about $15,600.
The authority’s overall budget is just shy of 3.2 million dollars — which is about 410 thousand more than in 2011.
Last year the city’s levy increased by 3 per cent.
It’s higher this year not just because of wages and benefits, but also because the Authority has determined to get away from the old way of doing business.
In recent years — the authority used forestry reserves to pay for capital projects and to keep from going to municipalities for more money.
But Cottrill says that practice is not sustainable.
The province gives the authority 80 thousand dollars a year for operations, an amount that has not increased since 2001.
Cottrill says the authority is trying very hard to be fiscally responsible in areas where it can control costs.
But he notes there are still capital projects in particular which must be done.
This year the big ticket items are the removal of the aging Haines Dam in Clarksburg, which is no longer worth the upkeep, and refurbishing the Mill Dam in Owen Sound.
Studies show that the Mill Dam is starting to rot away under the water — so if the Ministry of Natural Resources approves that project, it will be done in the fall.
The project is expected to cost 200 thousand dollars — and the authority would split the cost with the MNR.
Cottrill says there has been discussion about removing the Mill Dam, but the recreational and cultural benefits of the Mill Dam to Owen Sound are too great.
