2025 Zorra budget deliberations begin

Connor Luczka, Echo Correspondent

The first budget meeting of the season kicked off at the Zorra Township council meeting on Nov. 6, but there are more to follow before it is finalized.

That being said, many councillors at the table were pleased with how the process has started.

“I can usually find something to quibble about, but I can’t on this one,” Coun. Paul Mitchell said after CAO Diane Larder and other departmental heads presented the 2025 draft capital budget. “It's a really good starting point. We’ll add operating to it and find out where the numbers are.”

Currently, the 2025 draft capital budget is sitting at $3,759,136, an increase of $182,603 from the 2024 capital budget.

There is a 5.10 per cent increase to the capital budget’s tax levy and a 1.76 per cent increase to the tax levy overall.

The total transfers to reserves for 2025 is $3,141,541 and, as Larder said, reserves are essentially the basis of the tax levy.

Included in the capital budget is the purchase of two electric trucks, one for the building department and one for the fire chief, both priced at $70,000 and funded from their respective reserves.

Fire services will also install a washing machine at the Thamesford and Uniondale fire halls, priced at $24,000, and implement a fob system for building entries at $11,323.

Development of the multi-use courts in Thamesford ($350,000) and a new playground at the Embro Memorial Park ($100,000) is also included in the capital budget.

A replacement of the hot water tank ($20,000) and water softener ($13,000) at the Embro Community Centre is on tap in this budget, as is an overhaul to the Thamesford Arena’s compressor ($16,000), condensers ($145,000), and parking lot drainage ($35,000).

The completion of an updated security access and control system for the remaining buildings in the township ($36,000), entrance gates and a fence at the Zorra Maintenance Facility ($105,000), and the installation of dash cameras in fleet vehicles ($20,000), as part of the risk management program, will also be completed in 2025 as part of the capital budget.

There are also four road construction projects budgeted for 2025.

Aside from highlights in the capital budget, Larder also explained that the township underwent a study on development charges over the past year, resulting in $1,361,903 being allocated towards principal and interest payments of the Zorra Maintenance Facility (ZMF) for 2024 and 2025.

Per questions from both Mitchell and Coun. Katie Grigg, Larder confirmed that the cash flow from development charges is not known at this point, since the municipality does not know when the houses that provide those charges will be completed.

“We would have to use other resources to fund those projects until the development charges come in as a source of revenue,” Larder said. “So that could be either from our working fund reserve. It could be from a line of credit. My recommendation would be using your working fund reserve, which is your cash flow reserve, and then fund it back in again.”

Later in the presentation, Coun. Kevin Stewart asked if the municipality is putting money away for the next big facilities project, such as the renovation or replacement of the Thamesford District Recreation Centre which had been identified as a potential project in the near future just earlier this year.

Larder answered that they are not currently putting money away for future facilities in this budget, instead towards a master plan which would better inform a council of the day on next steps for certain buildings. After questioning from Mayor Marcus Ryan, Larder confirmed that currently, the township is not putting enough money away to manage all the assets in the township and that the sooner it does the better.

The full capital budget, as it stands, is included in the agenda package of the Nov. 6 meeting. It can be found at https://zorra.civicweb.net/document/47116/2025%20Draft%20Capital%20Budget.pdf?handle=3258CEB5F05C482A82E1EDBAE74C4418.

The full presentation can be found on the township’s YouTube page.

“I'm not sure that I'm not going to have some changes that I might bring forward at a later date, but in terms of the review today and file for information purposes at this point, I think it's a really good start,” explained Mayor Marcus Ryan.