Budget 2020
The 2020 Budget for the Town of Paradise was tabled at the Public Council Meeting, December 3, 2019. The $37.9 million balanced budget focuses on making strategic investments in key initiatives while maintaining the Town’s current level of programs and services, all with no impact to residential or commercial mil rates.
For 2020, the residential and commercial mil rates will remain at 7.2 and 11.5, respectively, and there will be no change to the residential water and sewer rate of $600 per unit. For commercial water and sewer, the Town will move from a per unit rate to a mil rate structure. This is a common approach used by many municipalities across the province as it makes the water and sewer fee structure more equitable among all users. The Town of Paradise will implement a mil rate of 1.0 in 2020 for commercial water and sewer, which is among the lowest in the region.
All the initiatives of Budget 2020 are being implemented without borrowing which means the Town’s debt-servicing ratio is now just under 5 percent, which is one of the lowest in the province.
Key initiatives in Budget 2020 include:
- Funding for Paradise Road Phase IV project, annual street rehabilitation program, design work for a roundabout at Kenmount Road and McNamara Drive, and improvements to the intersection of St. Thomas Line and Paradise Road;
- Partnering with the Aquarena to offer time slots exclusive to Paradise residents for swimming lessons and family swim sessions;
- Hiring Crossing Guards for the four elementary schools in Town;
- Developing an accessible transportation pilot program based on best practices used by municipalities across the country and input from community groups;
- Implementing a Business Concierge program to establish a single point of contact for our new and existing businesses to help them navigate the application and development process;
- Launching a Green Footprint public education campaign to encourage residents and businesses to reduce, reuse, and recycle, enabling the Town to help reduce its environmental footprint; and
- Allocating $400,000 to the Infrastructure Reserve Fund, bringing the investment to $1.4 million for future asset management needs.
Budget 2020 Documents