Tax hike details delayed
Trent Hills to post draft 2026 budget later this week
The 2026 municipal budget has been delayed because the province was slow in sending out invoices for Ontario Provincial Police services, making it impossible for Trent Hills to produce its draft budget according to its normal schedule.
“They were supposed to have the OPP costs out by the end of November, but we didn’t get it until late Friday night,” Mayor Bob Crate said after a council meeting on Tuesday.
Treasurer Christina Beaushaw is finalizing the draft budget and will meet with councillors individually this week to go over the details. Then, the draft budget will be posted online for the public to study and comment on, said Chief Administrative Officer Karen Frigault.
On Thursday, Dec. 18 council will hold a special meeting to discuss the budget and another special meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13 to pass the budget, Frigault said.
Comments from the public will be accepted until Jan. 5, she said.
As I wrote in October, the province decided to cap the increase in the OPP’s invoice at 11 per cent this year. That would mean an increase of about $330,000, which is on top of the 17 per cent increase Trent Hills faced last year.
The burden will be increased this time because after complaints from around the province last year, the Ford government provided the municipality with $431,912 to ease the pain and keep the local cost unchanged at $2.55 million. This year no one is expecting any pain relief from Queen’s Park.
Frigault said the municipality faced strict timelines for producing a budget because the strong mayors law passed by the Ford government sets tight rules and automatic acceptance of a budget, even without public comment or feedback.
The current plan meets those requirements while including time to comment, which was a scheduling challenge over the Christmas period.
OPP puts focus on community
Northumberland OPP Detachment Commander Mike Cavanagh told council that his focus is on increasing the community engagement of his officers.
Cavanagh was appointed to lead the detachment in July and Tuesday was his first chance to meet most councillors.
“I want cops to be cops again,” Cavanagh said in his presentation to council.
He said he is encouraging officers to be proactive about enforcing traffic laws and meeting with people. Cavanagh started his police career with the Stirling-Rawdon force in 2005, joining the OPP in 2010.
Cavanagh said his officers are increasingly focused on mental health issues. “Even when we’re responding to assaults, most of the time there is an underlying mental health issue,” he said.
Staff Sergeant Mike Davidson told council that the detachment has been working with a nurse from Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg who helps when they are responding to calls. Now, funding has been obtained to expand the service, and the plan is hire a nurse who will be based in Campbellford who can especially help with calls in this area in the evening, including Friday nights.
Included in council’s agenda were the minutes of the OPP detachment board’s meeting on October 17. Davidson made a presentation that examined traffic collisions the past two years.
He said there had been a 95 per cent increase in collisions, with 55 per cent of them on Highway 401. In total there were 1,141 collisions and 797 of those were on the 401.
This had led to a 275 per cent increase in road closures in the past two years.
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