Council Highlights from the February 14, 2022 Meeting

Clarington Council approves the 2022 municipal budget

Clarington Council has unanimously approved the 2022 Budget that will increase the Municipal portion of the tax levy by 2.11 per cent. When combined with the Region of Durham and the Provincial education portions, taxpayers will see an approximate 1.99 per cent increase on the overall combined tax bill.

For the Clarington portion of the tax bill, residents will pay approximately $33 or $2.75 per month more on a property assessed at $400,000. That is the average house assessment value in Clarington determined by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). Clarington uses the assessment values calculated by MPAC to calculate its tax base.

The municipal budget will support Clarington’s current service delivery and includes infrastructure investment. The operating budget pays for the day-to-day expenses to provide a variety of municipal services and totals more than $60.3 million. Clarington Council also approved a significant investment in capital assets to repair and rehabilitate aging infrastructure and add new facilities as needed. The 2022 capital investment is approximately $99.18 million. This includes improvements to the Newcastle Memorial Arena, the Orono Arena and Community Centre, improvements to the Courtice Shores Drive grade crossing, and a new South Bowmanville facility. The South Bowmanville Recreation Complex is Clarington’s largest new capital investment and will include a pool, twin pad arena, a gymnasium and walking track, and administrative space. It will be built in a single phase and paid through debenture and financed, in part, by development charges.

Budget Highlights:

• $655,000 for various Clarington park upgrades, a portion of which will be funded through the tax levy.
• $280,000 for the rehabilitation of Newcastle Lion’s Trail.
• $105,000 for upgrades to Clarington Fields.
• $100,000 for splash pad resurfacing across Clarington.
• $2,200,000 for rehabilitation of various structures, including buildings and bridges, a portion of which will be funded through the tax levy.
• $180,000 for municipal sidewalk replacement.
• $300,000 for accessible crossing signal upgrades at intersections in various areas.
• Additional funding of $734,000 for Cobbledick Road railway crossing improvements in addition to the $750,000 approved earlier.
• $6,402,000 to replace the arena floors at Orono Arena and Community Centre and the Newcastle Memorial Arena to be funded by debenture.
• An estimated $61 million for a new South Bowmanville Recreation Complex.
• An estimated $7,000,000 for Courtice Shores Drive grade crossing improvements funded from development charges.

The next Council Meeting is on Monday, March 14, 2022.