Town Council has approved the 2022 Municipal Budget and Business Plan for the Town of Bracebridge, with a 3.7% increase to the Town’s Tax Rate, providing for the first year of construction of the much anticipated Muskoka Lumber Community Centre and several other community-benefitting projects.
The development and adoption of the Town’s annual Municipal Budget and Business Plan is one of the most important tasks undertaken by both staff and Council. The 2022 Municipal Budget and Business Plan ensures that current municipal service levels are maintained while allocating funding required to set much of the Town’s past planning work into action.
“Bracebridge continues to experience very strong development activity, even as we cope with the lingering effects of the pandemic. That is why Council approved a 2022 Municipal Budget and Business Plan containing strategic investments aimed at bolstering our service capacity, while making historical investments in our infrastructure, including the new Muskoka Lumber Community Centre. Since the start of this term of Council in 2018, the Town’s annual tax rate increase has averaged well less than inflation, reflecting our efforts to keep taxes reasonable for residents and businesses,” said Mayor Graydon Smith.
The Municipal Budget and Business Plan focuses on maintaining existing service levels; funding initiatives recommended in the Town’s Strategic Plan and Recreation, Parks and Trails Master Plan; preserving and rehabilitating existing infrastructure; supporting local businesses; managing the financial pressures arising from COVID-19; and planning for costs associated with development of a new Muskoka Lumber Community Centre.
Highlights of the approved 2022 Municipal Budget and Business Plan include:
- $27.9 million to support the first year of construction of the new Muskoka Lumber Community Centre, which will be funded by debentures, reserves, and senior government grants;
- $2.9 million to fund a comprehensive road construction and rehabilitation program;
- $1.1 million to fund the structural rehabilitation of the Trethewey’s Falls Bridge and Peterson Bridge;
- $776,000 to fund improvements and repairs to the Bracebridge Bay parking lot and concrete shorewall and break wall, covered in part by provincial grants; and
- A combined allocation of $567,934 in Provincial COVID-19 Recovery Funds and Tax Stabilization Reserves to address COVID-19 pressures and staffing changes aimed at enhancing the Town’s ability to meet growth-related service demands.
The approved 2022 Municipal Budget and Business Plan will be available in the “Budgets and Financial Reports” section of the Town’s website at www.bracebridge.ca.
