It appears the community is just as divided on borrowing from the Legacy Fund as Norfolk County Councillors.
Today at Town Hall, our elected officials will decide if they will borrow $5-million from the fund to keep the tax burden down this year or if the residents will pay a higher tax increase for 2021 but the funds will remain in place.
The recommendation from staff right now is that our elected officials will borrow $5-million from the multi-million dollar account which will lower a proposed 7.7 per cent tax increase down to a 3.3 per cent tax increase on the average home.
This would be borrowed, interest-free for two years, and then a repayment plan would be put in place to bring the funds up to what they were.
It was also recommended that more money be borrowed during next year’s budget as well.
Nearly 80 emails or comments have been sent to our elected officials and there are multiple opinions.
Some community members are responding in-line with what Councillor Mike Columbus brought up during last week’s budget meeting – that the money needs to be borrowed to help already struggling families get through this pandemic.
Others side with Councillor Amy Martin’s approach, worrying that taking money from this account will open the door for future councils to do the same thing.
There are also concerns that this council right now has every intention of paying the money back, but in two years’ time when the repayment begins, the new council may not.
Then there are some people who are set in the middle, like Councillor Ian Rabbitts.
He does not like the idea of borrowing the money, and where this may lead, but also understands what COVID-19 has done to many households.
Letters, emails and other correspondence is available on councils agenda for this evening.
They will discuss the decision following a Board of Health meeting.