Frequently Asked Questions #6

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What will de-amalgamation cost?

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     ... does $32 per household scare you?

      We have estimated that de-amalgamation would cost no more than $32 per household. Is this a sound investment in the future? Well, taxpayers in the City of Kawartha Lakes have paid $11.3 million, or $332 per household, in increased taxes in the three years since amalgamation.

     How did we come up with $32?

     We started with the City’s amalgamation request: the list of what was to be spent on amalgamation. We subtracted the items that won't have to be purchased again when we de-amalgamate (trucks, cars, computers, furniture, office refurbishing, and so forth), leaving about $4.34 million, including a generous margin of error.

     The Provincial government restructuring fund program pays 75% of that, leaving $1.085 million for local taxpayers to pay, or about $32 per household (assuming 34,000 residential households). The addition of commercial, farm, and managed forest assessment would reduce this amount even further.

     But don't take our word for it. See for yourself.Click here to read the MRFP (amalgamation) budget, or ask the City for a copy. Call 324-9411 and ask for report FINxxxx from the finance department.

     Reading the MRFP budget, we made a few observations: First, the majority of the expenditures (83%) won't have to be made again to de-amalgamate. Only about 17% applied to things that will have to be reversed (eg. $97,000 for signage). Secondly, a lot of money was spent on items that had little, if anything, to do with amalgamation. And thirdly, we will come out of this with more assets than we had before amalgamation.

     Of course, the actual cost will depend on the political will of the decision makers. But this time around, they will be an elected Council accountable to the taxpayers. Remember this when you mark your municipal ballot!