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Thursday, February 5, 2015 - The IFP - H alton H ills - w w w .theifp.ca Page 27 HaltonHighlights February2015 This page has been donated by this newspaper to communicate important information to Halton residents at no cost to taxpayers. Meetings at Halton Region 1151 Bronte Rd., Oakville, L6M 3L1 Meetings can be viewed at Halton.ca/meetings. Please contact us as soon as possible if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. February 16 Offices closed for Family Day February 17 9:30 a.m. Health & Social Services Cttee February 18 9:30 a.m. Planning & PublicWorks Cttee February 18 1:30 p.m. Administration & Finance Cttee February 25 9:30 a.m. Regional Council Meeting Keeping you informed by highlighting what makes Halton a great place to live. Gary Carr, Regional Chair Halton Region's 2015 Budget: investing for the future Regional Council has made it a strategic priority to invest for the future. The 2015 Budget, which Regional Council approved on January 28, 2015, includes a significant investment in infrastructure and an increase in the Region's investment in the water, wastewater and transportation state-of-good-repair capital programs, from $69 million in 2007 to $110 million. The 2015 Budget continues the Region's focus on maintaining service levels, making strategic investments and maintaining the tax rate increase for Regional services within the rate of inflation. The 2015 Budget includes a 1.5 per cent increase in property taxes, for Regional programs and services. The 2015 Budget and Business Plan focuses on investment in the planning and delivery of infrastructure. It includes continued investments in Regional assets and facilities and is based on the solid financial planning principles for which Halton is recognized. Surveys show that public satisfaction with Regional services has averaged 98 per cent over the past few years. The 2015 Budget will allow these service levels to be maintained, along with our AAA credit rating, and ensure that Halton Region remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. I invite you to review the 2015 Budget and Business Plan online at Halton.ca/budget. Budget highlights Investments tomaintain existing infrastructure The Region has significant infrastructure assets particularly in the water, wastewater and transportation service areas. The 2015 Budget includes $5.7 million towards Water and Wastewater State-of-Good-Repair. Connecting people to services The Region provides a wide variety of important, high quality services to residents. The 2015 Budget includes over $2.9 million of investments to enhance customer services including $1.0 million for additional staff and vehicles for Paramedic Services and $200,000 for Crisis Prevention / COMMANDE, a multi-agency initiative committed to ensuring the health and safety of the community by providing real-time, coordinated responses to high-risk situations. Adapting to climate change Weather patterns have changed over the past few decades with more intense storms such as the December 2013 ice storm and the August 2014 flood. Such events highlight the need to continuously review and identify improvements in Halton's emergency planning and response. The 2015 Budget includes $5.0 million to assist in the implementation of any recommendations of the Region-wide Basement Flooding Mitigation Study, as well as $5.5 million towards emergency generators in warming and reception centres and $378,000 to increase the Region's capacity to respond to emergencies. Economic growth Achieving economic growth includes development of employments lands. A sufficient supply of serviced employment lands is critical to attracting and retaining businesses. The Budget provides $1.0 million towards a Pilot Area Servicing Plan Study for economic development and intensification to be undertaken in each Local Municipality for the advancement of employment lands and Urban Growth Centre intensification. Financial stability A number of adjustments in the 2015 Budget will help maintain financial stability over the next 10 years. The Budget also includes a 4.9 per cent increase in the 2015 Water and Wastewater Rate. Of the 4.9 per cent increase, 1.1 per cent will fund operating costs of Halton's water and wastewater systems to keep Halton's water safe and 3.8 per cent is for investment in treatment plants and pipeline systems. Skyway Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade Halton Region Budget andBusiness Plan 2015