Quinte Conservation budget turned down

BELLEVILLE, Ont. Belleville council members Jackie Denyes and Egerton Boyce discuss the budget following the meeting where it was not passed. Photo by Matt Kerr.

By Matt Kerr

The Quinte Conservation Authority 2012 budget was turned down for approval after they asked for an additional $84,000 from local municipalities.

Most of the 23 people at the meeting had a problem with the budget but Belleville Councilor Jackie Denyes outlined several problems.

She brought up areas that could be possible solutions towards cutting the increase. She raised issues such as a new vehicle in the budget, a new staff position and the money put toward the monthly meetings.

“With those cuts we are almost at $80,000, a 7.8% increase is not acceptable and we won’t approve this budget,” said Denyes

Quinte Conservation allocates 35,000 towards getting a new vehicle for their fleet.

“The board hasn’t approved a new vehicle acquisition.  We are fighting for every percentage decrease,” said Denyes.

“Our marketing campaign is down from $30,000 to $14,000 from last year, we are looking at cutting the vehicle budget of $35,000,” said Terry Murphy, general manager of Quinte Conservation.

Murphy said they have already had a manager’s meeting to discuss further cuts. He said options include cancelling a position that is currently vacant and investing in an automated desk system. The system is expected to cost anywhere from $17,000 to $25,000 but would be an investment.

“Every municipality is making cuts and running bare bones, if I brought this to Tweed I would be run out of town,” said Justin Bray, Tweed councilor who is also on the advisory board.

He said that the levies for Quinte Conservation have increased 49.5% since 2006. He said no municipality has the budget to handle that much of a levy. He also said that to approve it they would need to chop the budget.

After an hour of debate over the budget, it was evident that the issue would not get settled in one night. Murphy said they have to bring the budget back next meeting and prepare an additional document. The committee approved that the budget be revised for the December meeting.

John Wise is on the chair of the executive committee and from the township of Stone Mills.

“It was good that they would be able to pass a budget next meeting, and that everyone is facing the same wall with reduced revenues,” said Wise

The budget will be further debated on December 15 and may be approved before the New Year.