$5.7 milliona year: the gap the Township says it faces between what its assets need ($8.3 million) and what it sets aside ($2.6 million)
The Township's own asset plan counts what it owns (roads, bridges, buildings, water pipes, vehicles) at a replacement cost of $278 million. It says keeping those things in shape needs about $8.3 million a year, and the Township sets aside about $2.6 million a year, which leaves a gap of $5.7 million a year. The 2026 budget answers part of this with an extra 2.5% on the tax levy (the total tax the Township collects) for reserves, which is $269,000 in 2026. The budget's own forecast tables also show a "Facility" line in the fire department of $3,000,000 in each of 2030, 2031 and 2032, and the fire facility reserve ends up $8,556,000 short in 2032 even with the extra contributions. The pages we read do not say what the facility is or how it would be paid for.
5.7%net levy increase for 2026 (6.7% before 1.0% growth in the tax base); the Township forecasts 6.9% for 2027
The levy is the total the Township collects from property taxes for its own services. The net levy increase (after the tax base grew a little) was 4.6% in 2024, 6.4% in 2025 and 5.7% in 2026, which is $10 a month for the average home according to the budget. The Township's own forecast has the levy rising 6.9%, 6.5% and 6.1% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The Township explains the 2026 rise: 1.5 points come from a policing cost that the province capped at an 11% increase, 0.7 points from insurance, and 2.5 points from the extra reserve contribution. It also says its 2025 residential tax rates were the lowest in Northumberland County.
$135,000fire calls recoverable budgeted for 2026, against $76,290 preliminary actual for 2025
The fire department's net budget (what taxes pay for after its own revenue) goes from $1,339,160 to $1,578,710, up $239,550 or 17.9%. The budget gives the reasons: $100,000 is saving for fire trucks and the fire facility, $42,300 is a new full-time administrative assistant starting in July, $16,100 is insurance, and $81,150 is base costs. The part to look at is revenue. The budget counts on $135,000 from fire calls recoverable (money the Township bills for some responses), up from $100,000 in the 2025 budget. The 2025 preliminary actual was $76,290 and 2024 was $61,924. The budget says the figure is aligned with the projected actual.
$277,572still shown as unfunded capital for water work on Kennedy Road at the end of 2025
The Township runs small drinking water systems (Creighton Heights, Camborne, and a Buttersfield system supplied by Cobourg) and bills 573 residential and 13 commercial customers directly. Its budget calls them user pay systems, meaning paid for by the people connected. Its statements show the water operating account behind: "Waterworks operations" was (118,418) at the end of 2025 and (188,681) at the end of 2024, brackets meaning a shortfall. A separate amount of (277,572) for "Unfunded capital - Water", the Kennedy Road work, is unchanged in the 2026 budget and is to be reduced by long-term debt. For 2026 the water budget cuts the transfer to the capital reserve to $36,500, which it says is a deficit of approximately $94.5k against the water rate study, while water staff costs rise 30.2%.