Scugog allocates $1.2 million to reserves and contingencies

DAN CEARNS The Standard

SCUGOG: Scugog Councillors voted to allocate a surplus of over $1.2 million to various reserve and contingency funds at a recent meeting.

At the meeting, Councillors approved a recommendation to have $1,000,000 of the 2023 operating surplus transferred to the Municipal projects reserve “to offset cost associated with modernizing the Township’s operations as well as the implementation of the recommendations in the Service Delivery and Organizational Review,” $40,000 from scrap disposal funds to the vehicles and equipment reserve fund, $45,251 to “the Roads Climate Contingency to offset the cost of weather related issues in excess of a normal year,” and $200,000 to be distributed among the Township’s various reserve funds.

Ward 1 Councillor David LeRoy questioned the amount of money being given to the Municipal projects reserve.

“We have many needs and we have quite a few reserve funds. I’m surprised at this recommendation to allocate the entire balance of this fiscal year’s surplus to one account to something I thought was mostly costed out,” he said.

CAO Ken Nix explained the dual importance these funds will provide.

“We did talk about the majority of positions being cost recovered. We needed to gap this year to get there,” he stated. “It’s also modernization initiatives, setting money aside so we can continue with technology enhancements. If we don’t set it aside, we have to either not do technology enhancements in the future or raise it through taxes.”

He noted that one cost for integration of their Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) could be upwards of $200,000.

“It is why we were being cautious and putting some monies aside,” CAO Nix said.