City Gets $578,835 to Balance Budget
But Will Council Use It?
As reported last week, West Nipissing council is in the midst of discussing the 2025 budget, aiming to finalize it by next week. Staff have proposed a 6.52% tax increase to address a projected $1,377,484 shortfall.
One of the most significant drivers of this year’s budget increase is policing costs. Like many municipalities, West Nipissing faces rising Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) expenses, which account for over a quarter of the current shortfall.
To address these challenges, the provincial government announced $77 million in financial relief for rural and northern municipalities relying on the OPP.
In a letter obtained earlier this week, Ryan Whealy, Deputy Director of Issues and Legislative Affairs, informed Mayor Kathleen Thorne-Rochon that West Nipissing will receive $578,835 in financial assistance. Whealy confirmed that this relief will reduce the municipality’s 2025 policing costs to $3,457,039.
This funding immediately lowers the overall budget shortfall to $798,649, representing a reduced tax increase of 3.77%—a number that could decrease further with adjustments to HR and capital expenditures for 2025.
Council Split Over Using the Funds
When council discussed this announcement at last Monday’s budget meeting, optimism was notably absent. CAO Jay Barbeau proposed that council accept only $100,000 of the $578,835 relief and continue to rely on levy increases to address the shortfall.
Barbeau argued that the funding is a “one-time” allocation and should not be relied upon. He suggested placing the bulk of the relief into a reserve fund for future use, reducing this year’s tax increase by just 0.5%, from 6.52% to 6.02%.
Councillor Kris Rivard supported a cautious approach, proposing the use of $105,000 for a rounded 0.5% decrease in the tax levy. However, most councillors refrained from committing to a stance, pending further analysis by staff on potential accounting mechanisms to avoid using the funds as explicitly intended.
Commentary
The preference for levy increases over provincial grants has an unspoken advantage: levy increases compound annually, generating more revenue in the long term. This explains why staff and the CAO favor steady 5–6% annual increases.
However, when a grant is explicitly designated for a specific purpose—in this case, reducing the 2025 policing budget—council has a fiduciary duty to apply it accordingly. Even if the funding is part of an election-year strategy, the provincial government has been clear about its intent.
Stashing the funds for future use or election-friendly budgets in 2026 is a misuse of the allocation. West Nipissing taxpayers have effectively been given nearly $600,000 to ease their 2025 burden.
If you agree, contact your councillor and urge them to use the funds as intended.
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If council doesn’t use the funds as intended then they should all be fired and take the CAO and staff with them. Nobody received a 5-6% increase in their income every year so I am not sure why council and staff believe they can continue to raise taxes into perpetuity.
Throughout Ontario municipalities are all getting hit with huge OPP bills. My question is why? What are they doing to cost such increases? Are we the public in small rural areas getting more violent and have criminal charges increased? What exactly are we paying for?
Just stop this stupid hesitation the provincial government didn't give council a dime of this funding to play games with. It's intent is to reduce our tax burden do the right thing and do it. Some advice...ask the taxpayers.