The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority is running on fumes and asking for more funding.
CAO Jim Manicom says the Authority is looking for an increase in the municipal levy.
Currently, each of the eight member munipalities gives the Authority 10 dollars and 15 cents for every 100-thousand dollars of assessment within that municipality.
Manicom says they’re asking for that to be increased to 10 dollars and 86 cents.
For Owen Sound, the levy would go from 185-thousand dollars to 198-thousand.
Manicom says the Authority has been using reserves and surpluses for years now to repair aging infrastructure and those funds have been depleted.
He says a major example is the need to repair a hole in the mill dam in Owen Sound – but all reserves for dams will be exhausted by the end of this year.
Manicom says they’ve approached the Minister of Natural Resources for more funding, but Donna Cansfield says given the current economic crisis there will be no extra help from the province.
For the last two years, the Authority has not increased the levy and Manicom says even with this increase, the Grey Sauble levy is far less than those seen in other areas of the province.
The Authority will finalize their budget in February.
