Author: John Draper

Merry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog – 2023

John Draper

It seems that every year, Christmas comes upon us quicker than ever.  It’s also the end of another year and time for a review. The big international news is about two wars, National news is dominated by what people think of Trudeau and the local news is about the encampment by individuals who refuse the help provided by our generous social services.  But let’s not start ranting on about negative things – I do get tired of the seemingly endless criticisms by people commenting on this blog.  How do these people find anything to be happy about?  But Cobourg still has a thriving entertainment scene and life is good in Cobourg.  And Christmas is generally a happy season – especially… Read complete articleMerry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog – 2023

Police Approve 2024 Budget

John Draper

Cobourg’s Police service is the single biggest line item on the Town’s budget but their increase in 2024 at 6.3% is less than Cobourg’s proposed increase of 8.06%.  A big plus for the Police is they partially support themselves with their business unit – in 2024, the business unit will contribute $2.1M or 22% of total cost. Another plus is that they provide a good amount of detail – including personnel count. This is important because I calculate that wages, salaries and benefits are 77% of Police costs. Separately, the Police provide detailed reports on their performance – see the Agendas of their monthly meetings. See link in Resources below for the statistics to November in December’s report. The board also hears… Read complete articlePolice Approve 2024 Budget

Town Publishes Budget Survey

John Draper

If it’s like previous surveys, only a few hundred will participate although you’d think more would care about their tax increase. I don’t recall any budget surveys in previous years but then the proposed 8.06% hike is the biggest for some time.  The key question asked is about which services are important and there are only three specific budget items mentioned: the Centennial pool, the trial of fixed route Transit and the idea of a 1% infrastructure levy. It’s not a big survey but it might help Council understand what people are thinking. It starts with personal questions on age, income and how long you’ve lived in Cobourg then asks which services are important. One key service not included is… Read complete articleTown Publishes Budget Survey

Cobourg’s 2024 Draft Budget

John Draper

Town Staff have now presented their draft budget to Council and it was in a different format to previous years. Instead of spreadsheets, each department used the same format highlighting key drivers, savings, large operating increases, special projects and capital requirements. But first, the new director of Finance, Adam Giddings provided a summary highlighting additional staff, main budget drivers, increases by department and the overall increase compared to inflation. Adam presented numbers to show that budget increases over the last 5 years have not kept pace with inflation. He also gave the total expected tax levy increase: 8.06% compared to 6.6% in 2023 – both numbers after accounting for growth. But this is what Town staff are asking for (recommending)… Read complete articleCobourg’s 2024 Draft Budget

Mayor Cleveland stirs Budget Pot

John Draper

At the close of the first day of a two day budget session (Dec 12 and 13), Mayor Lucas Cleveland moved two motions that would be major changes to the budget setting process and to tax rates. Lucas is concerned with two things: first, when staff are added partway through the coming year, the budget impact is less than a full year so there is a hit in the following years that is not really considered. To fix this, Lucas wants the full year cost added to the budget and any unused amount transferred to a reserve to be used for future staffing needs. This was the subject of a motion he made which passed.  The second concern was more… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland stirs Budget Pot

Mayor Cleveland Answers Questions

John Draper

Mayor Lucas Cleveland started last night’s Town Hall meeting with a longer than promised review of the last 12 months. The meeting was held in the Gym at the CCC where about 400 chairs had been provided. The room was about half full. Lucas was nearly finished when an audience member interrupted because she wanted to get on with the question period. Lucas said there were 60 online questions – I counted a total of 18 questions were asked/answered including maybe 4 of the online questions. Key points made by Lucas were that: 1) Council needs to start with a strong foundation; 2)  He was elected on a mandate of change yet people do not like change; 3) People want… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland Answers Questions

Transition House moving

John Draper

No, not the building, but the location of the facility – it’s moving from 10 Chapel Street to 310 Division Street. Although announced, not all details are final and County Councillors and Northumberland residents are being asked for their input. The new building was previously Cobourg Retirement Residence but it closed in early 2023 and, in partnership with Transition House, the County has now purchased the property – although price and terms have not been finalized nor made public. The current Transition House building can accommodate a maximum of 22 individuals in four rooms with another 7 accommodated in local motels. Transition house is managed by a board with funding from multiple sources (see their web site in Resources) and is in partnership with… Read complete articleTransition House moving

County Budget 2024

John Draper

At a special Council meeting on December 6, the County Budget for 2024 to 2026 (and longer) will be presented.  Unlike Cobourg’s budget, there is a much greater emphasis on the big picture and less detail – e.g. no department line by line discussion.  The County seems to leave these details to staff and simply focus on increases in the overall levy and debt.  They also look much further into the future – there is budget information up to 2026 and  even a 10 year forecast.  But they do provide most information that residents are likely to want – like what do they do, where does their money come from, what are the significant changes this year and what will… Read complete articleCounty Budget 2024