Fire costs biggest concern for Cornwallis Square

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register

The Village of Cornwallis Square held its annual general meeting May 27 to present budgets for fire protection, sidewalk and recreation services for 2008/ 2009.

Tax rates remain unchanged, with the inside fire rate holding at .08 cents per $100 of assessment. Property owners outside the community boundaries of Waterville, Cambridge, Woodville and Grafton will pay 4.5 cents for fire protection services provided by the Waterville and District department. The rate was established in 2007. A total of $201,198 will be raised through the combined rates and fire grants from the county, and the nearby First Nations will contribute to a total fire protection budget of $393,198, up less than $1,000 from the year previous.

Commission chairman George Foote said, while the inside fire rate has stayed the same since 1996, it is getting increasingly difficult to manage costs without hiking the tax rate.

“Fire services have really been on my mind, in particular the replacement costs for equipment,” said Foote. On average, the commission helps fund replacement of one piece of equipment every two years to accommodate a standard 15-year life of the department’s rolling stock. In 2007, the commission contributed to the purchase of a new fire rescue truck.

Foote said the commission is doing its best to hold the line on expenses, even though the area’s commercial assessment is lower than in the previous year.

“There have been some changes at Michelin, but even a small change in overall commercial assessment means we have to tighten our belts.”

The commission passed a sidewalk budget of $20,586, which will be raised through an area rate of .01 cents per $100 of assessment. The recreation budget of $22,607, raised through the same tax rate, will generate a surplus of $2,607 after recreation grants of $5,000 are extended to each of the four communities. The commission will also donate its last installment of $5,000 to the Apple Dome building fund, bringing the total to $20,000.

Foote, who has represented Woodville on the commission for 32 years, was returned by acclamation for an additional three-year term. Larry Anderson was also re-elected as commissioner-at-large. Foote and Anderson joined in-term commissioners Roy Quartermain for Cambridge, Stuart Johnstone, Waterville; and Simon Holleman, Grafton.