Norfolk Countyto issue first debt in three years

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

Nearly $14.5M will help pay for five projects

Sometimes being a day late and a dollar short is a good thing. In this case, it’s actually three years late and about $10 million short.

Councillors at the March 10 meeting supported a staff recommendation to issue just under $14.5 million in debt in 2026 to help pay for five projects. 

“We’ve put off this debt issuance, and it’s smaller. So it’s coming in a couple years later and I think about $10 million lower than what I originally brought forward,” said Treasurer Amy Fanning.

Grants, favourable tender pricing and using surpluses to pay for projects in recent years has allowed the municipality to avoid issuing any new debt. That’s helped the county as it tries to navigate through a tricky financial situation into a more sustainable future.

“Our treasurer and our finance team are doing an absolutely outstanding job,” said Coun. Alan Duthie.

While councillors weren’t thrilled to be back in the debt issuing world, they acknowledged it’s sometimes unavoidable. Coun. Chris Van Paassen compared it to using credit to buy groceries vs. using a mortgage to buy a home. The latter makes sense, but the former doesn’t.

With the new debt issued, Norfolk will likely end the year with just under $80 million in outstanding debt. It may sound like a large number, the County will remain well under the annual repayment limit measure the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing uses to determine how much debt a municipality can handle.

The staff report found the new debt will bring Norfolk to 4.5 per cent, which is well shy of the 25 per cent limit. 

However, current projections have that number increasing, and peaking at 13.1 per cent.

Norfolk also has an internal tax-supported debt repayment target of 10 per cent. Under that measure, staff expects the municipality to peak at 6.1 per cent over the next 10 years.

The payments for the new debt have already been baked into the levy. In fact, more favourable interest rates may provide some good news for next year’s budget.

“I actually think we’ll be able to achieve a slight reduction in those line items for next year’s budget,” said Jared Carter, supervisor of financial initiatives and planning.

Four of the five projects being paid for through debt are for dressing room work at four County arenas. The fifth is for Phase 2 upgrades at the Port Dover water treatment plant.