Attached for your review is the Agenda for the special Village meeting scheduled at 7:00 pm Thursday, April 22, 2010 at the Kingston Village Office.

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1 Village of Kingston ph Main Street PO Box 254 fx Kingston NS B0P 1R0 April 19, 2010 Chairman T. Beardsley Commissioner M. Armstrong Commissioner D. Beaman Commissioner B. Beardsley Commissioner L. Reid Dear Commissioner Members: Attached for your review is the Agenda for the special Village meeting scheduled at 7:00 pm Thursday, April 22, 2010 at the Kingston Village Office. Yours Truly, Greg Towne Clerk/Treasurer

2 Village of Kingston ph Main Street PO Box 254 fx Kingston NS B0P 1R0 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 2010 AGENDA 1. Provision of Tax Certificates 2. Date of 2010 Annual General Meeting 3. Budget Presentation, Public Input and Deliberations

3 Village of Kingston ph Main Street PO Box 254 fx Kingston NS B0P 1R0 REPORT TO VILLAGE COMMISSION From: Greg Towne, Clerk/Treasurer Date: April 16, 2010 Re: Provision of Tax Certificates RECOMMENDATION THAT THE COST FOR ISSUING A TAX CERTIFICATE BE SET AT THIRTYFIVE ($35.00) DOLLARS PER CERTIFICATE, AND THAT THE POLICY FOR FEES BE AMENDED TO INCLUDE THIS ITEM REVIEW Tax Certificates are issued upon request to a concerned party requiring certified information as to the status of a tax account, the owner of the property, and the legal description. Most commonly, this information is required by law firms for real estate transactions, but may also be required by financial institutions or real estate offices. Now that the Village will issue and collect our own taxes, Kingston will be required to provide this information upon request. The information that will be provided on the tax certificate will show the amount of taxes imposed in the year, the amount of taxes owing, and the total amount of tax arrears, if any. It also includes the legal description and municipal address of the property. Staff have reviewed the work that will be required to provide these certificates and estimate, to recoup costs, the amount should be set at thirtyfive ($35.00) dollars per certificate. FINANCIAL IMPACT The provision of tax certificates was not included in the Proposed 2010/11 Operating Budget. As tax certificates are not required for all real estate transactions (some law firms or real estate agents will accept verbal confirmation from staff), it isn t possible to quantify the number of tax certificates requested. Staff estimate that 20 requests will occur in 2010/11, leading to increased revenues of $700.00

4 Village of Kingston ph Main Street PO Box 254 fx Kingston NS B0P 1R0 REPORT TO VILLAGE COMMISSION From: Greg Towne, Clerk/Treasurer Date: April 16, 2010 Re: Setting of Date for 2010 Annual General Meeting RECOMMENDATION THAT THE COMMISSION SET THE DATE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TO OCCUR SOMETIME IN JUNE 2010 REVIEW Section 413 of the Municipal Government Act states that the annual public meeting of the electors must be held on or before the first day of July in each fiscal year. Traditionally, Kingston has held theirs in early May, to allow for the passing of the budget, presentation of the audited financial statements and for the election of commissioners. Staff are requesting the delay of the 2010 Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the following reasons: 1. As the 2010/11 Operating and Capital Budget will likely be passed at its regular May Commission meeting, having the AGM early in the fiscal year is not so imperative. Staff will be able to move on operating and capital items in a timely fashion. 2. The required Tangible Capital Asset reporting changes under the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) will not be completed until June. To comply with PSAB standards, all village capital assets must be inventoried, valued and then depreciated to net book value. This work must be complete and reviewed by the village auditor prior to the annual financial statements being presented. At issue is the category of contributed assets, as the village must value assets that have been ceded to them by the Province (ie sidewalks), developers (sewage infrastructure) or other contributors. Historical records relating to these items are negligible at best, and staff are having to perform additional work to obtain this information.

5 Setting of this date will allow staff to prepare the necessary advertisements for the AGM and the setting of the Nomination Day as required under the village Nomination Day/Election Process ByLaw.

6 Village of Kingston April 22, 2010 Agenda Public Deputations Recap New Items Deliberations Base Budget General Business Occupancy Sewer Deliberations Capital Budget Deliberations Service Level Initiatives (Time permitting) 1

7 Budget Guidelines Keep tax rates competitive Incorporate the sidewalk area rate into the residential and commercial rates Include a proactive infrastructure funding plan into the base budget Offset losses due to phase out of Business Occupancy Tax within the commercial rate Amend sewer rate based on base budget needs Include funding for the current year capital plan and present five year capital forecast 2

8 HST Impact Provincial Budget Province proposing 2% increase in HST Normally, HST is incurred by end users (consumers) Village does not pass along HST to consumers, must absorb cost Estimated Village Cost = $10,800 At this time, staff recommend no change to base budget, but caution there may be variances through the year due to this item 3

9 County of Kings County recently implemented Organizational Review changes substantial changes to management structure Some village services and initiatives are tied to County s ability to implement Anticipate this will inhibit County s capacity to provide support and assistance Legal setback (education funding) will also restrict County funds Commissioner Adjustments New items may be added at any time Amendments to amounts may be brought forward for consideration 4

10 Base Budget Adjustments Commission priority to maintain current activities and services Base budget is the minimum amount needed to maintain current services Approve as whole unless amendments 5

11 Base Budget Adjustments Summary from Table 1, page 13 Amount Revenues $1,100,300 Expenditures $1,090,800 Base Budget Surplus $9,500 Base Budget Items to be Approved Table 3, page 15 Approve each item 6

12 Business Occupancy PhaseOut Page 15 Recoup amounts lost from Business Occupancy Tax by adjusting Commercial Rate by 1 Sewer Rate Base budget requirements to maintain operating and capital requirements of sewer system Increase of 4.4% to existing rates Single dwelling increased from $ to $ Details in Table 2, page 14 Sewer column 7

13 Capital Budget Guidelines Capital budget set based on priorities of Commission and staff Planned proactive maintenance of existing infrastructure Long term capital plan to be implemented Approve as whole unless amendments Changes to proposed capital program to have positive or negative implications to base budget need to fund projects 8

14 Proposed Capital Budget Cost From Operations From Reserves Federal Gas Tax Other Federal Funding Other Provincial Funding Other Revenue Debt Environmental Health SCADA systems 75,000 25,000 50,000 Treatment Plant Repairs 15,000 5,000 10,000 Lift Station Repairs 15,000 5,000 10,000 Collection System Repairs 30,000 10,000 20,000 Total Environmental Health 135,000 45,000 90,000 Transportation Sidewalk Repairs and Upgrades 36,000 12,000 24,000 Total Transportation 36,000 12,000 24,000 Civic Building Building Upgrades 10,000 10,000 Total Civic Building 10,000 10,000 Public Works Barn Improvements 20,000 20,000 Shelter Stronach Park 15,000 15,000 Total Public Works 35,000 35,000 Total 216,000 90,000 12, ,000 Capital Projects SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems ($75,000) provides monitoring, remote access and alarm systems for lift stations estimate $10,000 per station project to be completed over 2 years Treatment Plant Repairs ($15,000) capital repairs to treatment plant infrastructure Lift Station Repairs ($15,000) capital repairs to lift stations Collection System Repairs ($30,000) allows for preventative replacements of older sewer pipes 9

15 4/19/2010 Capital Projects Sidewalk Repairs ($36,000) replacements to sidewalk segments in need to repairs Building Upgrades ($10,000) replacement of garage door and motor, roofing improvements Barn Improvements ($20,000) installation of cement floor and other storage improvements Shelter Stronach Park ($15,000) creation of structure to house portable toilet, provide for other amenities Five Year Capital Funding Forecast Table 36, page 53 Cost From Operations From Reserves Federal Gas Tax Other Federal Funding Other Provincial Funding Other Revenue Debt 129, , , , , ,000 43,000 40,000 35,000 60, ,000 50,000 50,000 86,000 80,000 70, ,000 50, , , , ,000 12,000 36, ,000 90, ,000 1,517,000 18,000 18,000 53,000 12, ,000 30, , , , ,000 60, , , , ,000 18, , ,000 Civic Building Building Upgrades Building Security Total Civic Building 50,000 7,000 57,000 50,000 7,000 57,000 Administration Financial Software Upgrades Total Administration 20,000 20,000 Public Works Barn Improvements Parking Improvements VIC Storage Building Shelter Stronach Park Central Water System Total Public Works 20,000 25,000 75,000 15,000 12,000,000 12,135,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 15,000 90,000 45, , ,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 3,900,000 3,900,000 75,000 75,000 15,000 15,000 35,000 35,000 25,000 25,000 14,558, , , ,000 4,300,000 4,343,000 3,900, ,000 Environmental Health SCADA systems Treatment Plant Repairs Lift Station Repairs Collection System Repairs Major Treatment Plant Upgrade Total Environmental Health Transportation Sidewalk Repairs and Upgrades Equipment Replacement Street Light Upgrades Marshall Road Sidewalk West Main Street Sidewalk Balser Road Sidewalk Total Transportation Recreation Soccer Field Elm St Total Recreation Total 10

16 4/19/2010 Next Steps Next Budget meeting Thursday, May 13, 2010 Incorporate changes from tonight s deliberations Public input forwarded to Commissioners Recap of previous items Deliberations Service Level Increases Budget adopted by Commission 11