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A ll rig ht s r es er ve d. 99 Sinclair Avenue, Suite 210 Cost of various projects 'not a worry'-- DeSousa At fi rst glance, the 2012 capital bud- get status report on last Monday night's council agenda would set tax- payers' wallets quivering with the red ink fl owing on several projects including $1.4 mil- lion on the library project. But Town Treasurer Ed DeSousa assures that the projects are fully funded, and the Dec. 31, 2012 capital bud- get status report, approved by council at general committee, "is basically a snapshot" of the fi nances at that stage of the project. Raising eyebrows were the $12 million library renovation project, which was, at year's end on paper, $1.4 million short and the Maple Ave. fi re sta- tion project, $396,000 over-spent. In the case of the library account, it does not include funding from reserves, which "we only allocate funding from reserves twice a year," explained DeS- ousa. "In this case, it also involves the funding from the Green Municipal Fund ($7,103,374 loan/grant announced in Jan- uary), and that money had not yet been received, so it has not yet hit the books." "This is not the fi nal number (on the li- brary project)," said the treasurer. "It's all timing. Until the project is closed and fi n- ished we don't know what the fi nal costs are. ... The $1.4 million doesn't worry me at this point." But he hastened to add staff are con- stantly monitoring all projects and "if we knew there was a signifi cant problem along the way, we would go to Council." Also at last Monday's meeting, council approved the Arena Steering Committee minutes, in which committee members approved a recommendation to increase the project budget by $250,000 from $16,808,130 to $17,058,130. This was made on the advice of the construc- tion manager after encounter- ing soil and foundation issues early in the building phase. "Once the project is com- plete (in the fall), and the costs are identifi ed, then we will also identify the funding sources, and yes, there will be funds available," said DeSousa. DeSousa said council must approve over-expenditures over $15,000 as it did Monday night when staff asked for additional $45,584 for phase one of the Wildwood Oakridge construction. The additional funds (2% of the $2.5 million project) will come from the Capital Replacement Reserve. When the library project is fi nally com- plete, there will be a report to the library board and to council on whether the proj- ect was over-spent or under-spent. DeS- ousa expects that report sometime this spring. With regard to the fi re station account, the Town is currently awaiting on a po- tential insurance settlement. DeSousa could not comment because lawyers are hashing out the matter, but added the fi re station will be fully paid for either after the litigation or through a reserve/fi re ser- vices levy. By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer ED DESOUSA Town of Halton Hills offi cials have given Thursday's federal budget the thumbs up. A press release from the Town stated, "(The) budget is an important step for- ward for Halton Hills. We applaud the government for choosing to continue moving our communities ahead even as it meets its immediate fi scal challenges. "Of particular signifi cance in this con- text, is the government's decision to in- dex the gas tax transfer at 2% annually beginning in 2014-2015. This measure alone-- the fi rst indexing of a munici- pal transfer-- will ensure the fund keeps pace with infl ation and will add another $9 billion to the permanent gas tax fund over 20 years." "By protecting the purchasing power of the gas tax transfer, and by extend- ing program funding for 10 years, this budget entrenches the principle of long- term sustainable infrastructure funding for Halton Hills," said Mayor Rick Bon- nette. "The work that was done by FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) has paid off with the indexing of the gas tax. Halton Hills now receives about $2 million a year from it. Having it pro- tected from infl ation will have benefi ts to our community," added Halton Hills Councillor and FCM board member Clark Somerville. "What (the) budget does not contain is a defi nitive roadmap to erasing the infrastructure defi cit. However, it does lay the foundation for continued inter- governmental collaboration as economic conditions improve to meet the chal- lenges that need to be addressed in all of Halton Region." Town offi cials pleased with federal budget