It may not be what municipalities within the Saugeen watershed had wanted.
But the Board of Directors of the Saugeen Conservation Authority passed the 2009 draft budget last Thursday at their headquarters south of Hanover.
The budget includes an 8 percent increase in the general levy that will be covered by the 15 member municipalities.
Director Dan Sullivan says the weighted vote saw 56 percent voting in favour of the budget.
Sullivan — the Deputy Mayor of West Grey — says he heard concerns from directors from other municipalities of the repeated increases in the budget.
He says municipalities are feeling the pain and perhaps the SCA should also be feeling some of that pain.
West Grey was one municipality that was not in favour of the increase and Council directed Sullivan and their other representative — Councillor John Bell — to vote against any budget that had an increase of more than 3 percent.
Sullivan says he was hoping the Board would continue to look at ways to trim down the budget including realigning some of their services.
West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles echoes Sullivans comments adding the close vote should send a message to the Board.
Eccles — a former SCA Director — says he has seen West Greys share of the levy increase by an average of 28 percent over the last 10 years.
Eccles suggests the SCA take a step back and look at what the Authority is mandated to do.
He says many of the programs conservation authorities on Ontario take on is done voluntarily or through good will.
He says by taking on these programs it is having an impact on the overall budget.
Kincardine and Saugeen Shores are just a couple of other municipalities that had more than one vote on the budget.
Both Councils directed their representatives to vote in favour of the budget.
