Blackville maintains tax rate; village digs deep into reserve funding to cover rising costs in budget

The Village of Blackville had to dig deep into its reserve funding to maintain services in its 2010 municipal budget.

Blackville sliced $35,483 from its reserves, down to $48,548 from $84,031 in 2009, with a major portion of the funds going toward padding the cost of its fire department and RCMP detachment.

The local fire department receives an extra $10,212 this year, with much of that money going toward upgrades to the fire station and the purchase of new equipment, raising the fire budget to $53,187.

The village’s RCMP contract rose by $4,950, leaving the RCMP budget at $156, 750.

Blackville’s tax rate of $1.265 per $100 of assessed value remained the same, meaning the owner of a $100,000 home will pay $1,265 in annual taxes.

All told, Blackville’s gross budget is set at $731,457, an $11,104 decrease over 2009, with its overall tax base holding firm at $40,412,982.

The warrant to be raised by tax payers this year is $511,426.

The Southwest Miramichi River village of 931 residents also budgeted an extra $10,000 for parks and playground services, up to $35,000 in 2010, as well as incremental increases for plowing and street lighting.

“We made adjustments in different places, cut back on some of our expenses because of the fire department and took that money out of some different areas, ” said village manager Kurt Marks.

“But everything else is pretty much the same.”

Blackville has also budgeted for $140,871 in non-tax revenue, which includes traffic tickets and fire service to the surrounding local service districts, a $26,772 drop from 2009, due in large part to the absence of a gas tax this year and a steep drop in apartment rentals.