MAYNOOTH – Hastings Highlands held its regular meeting of Council – Operations and Planning on July 15.
One of the first matters covered was the audit of the 2019 financial year, the report which provides many interesting insights for ratepayers.
A quick glance at the graphs indicates good, conservative management of debt and healthy revenue growth over the last few years. On the other hand, it is clear that this comes largely from taxes and other fees levied on households. The average household was charged $6,810, which is about 50 percent higher than the burdens on households in nearby municipalities, as calculated from 2018, of about $4,000; significantly higher even than Bancroft’s, which averaged $4,854 in 2018, for example.
On the matter of development, Martin Cox, Chief Building Official of HH indicated that so far this year, “ninety-one permits were issued with a total estimated construction value of $5,150,029.00 and $67,681.26 in associated building permit fees. The Building Department carried out 280 inspections in the first six months of 2020.” The councillors were happy to receive this report as it indicated healthy growth, in their opinion.
Next, the council authorized a series of road allowance closures.
After this, the sale of both the Musclow Community Centre, at 10 McCormick Road, Monteagle and the Bangor Community Centre, at 786 Centreview Road, Bangor, were considered. The sales were quickly approved, but conversation was held about the wording concerning into which ledger the profit from the sales would be allocated.
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