Malahide counter-offers at 10 percent CCCA levy increase

Malahide council members on Thursday, Jan. 15, decided to offer Catfish Creek Conservation Authority a 10 percent increase in its annual levy on the township, not the 20 percent CCCA had sought.

The original allocation in the proposed 2026 Malahide budget had been just 2.4 percent.

Mayor Dominique Giguère said after the budget and CCCA’s request were presented to council in December, a follow-up meeting between township and authority representatives was quickly arranged.

The actual request, she said, was explained to actually be a 19 percent increase, and in the meeting, the CCCA representatives “acknowledged they had put themselves in a very difficult financial situation” in recent years.

“Everybody could see the numbers,” she said, which included a six-figure shortfall in the authority’s budget each year.

But, she continued, the approach of a one-time “spike” in the levy to address this situation would put the full effect onto township ratepayers in a single year.

For the full story, see the Jan. 21 edition of The Aylmer Express.