DOWNTOWN TILLSONBURG PAGE
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Tillsonburg POST
NOVEMBER 28, 2024
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Council aims for increase of 3%-plus in budget Shop Hours: Mon - Fri: 8 am to 5 pm & Sat: 8 am to 4 pm
JEFF HELSDON Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Tillsonburg town council is aiming for a budget increase of three percent in 2025, plus an increase in OPP costs for a wage settlement that is outside the town’s control. Council started the budget session on Nov. 18 with a $3.4 million increase in expenditures which would require a 13.69 per cent tax rate increase over 2024. This would equate to a $332 tax hike for a home with an assessment value of $242,000. Discretionary items included in the budget, which could be removed,
totalled $592,000, bringing the tax rate increase down to 10.92 per cent, of a $272 increase for an average home. Breaking the increase down further, there is a 13.68 per cent increase in the operating budget and three per cent in the capital. Planned large capital items include • Ice resurfacer - $250,000 • Cranberry Line reconstruction - $1.8 million • Cranberry Line storm sewers - $1.4 million • Kinsmen pedestrian bridge - $4.7 million • Lake Lisgar water park liner - $300,000 CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
New food bank coordinator organizing Christmas food drive JEFF HELSDON
Editor
Trial by fire might be a good way to describe starting the position of food bank coordinator before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Samantha Hamilton started as the coordinator of the Helping Hand Food Bank at the end of September. With Thanksgiving only days away, she didn’t have much time to learn the ropes—not that there’s really a time when the food bank isn’t busy. With more time on the job, she is well prepared
for Christmas and has some new ideas and approaches. Hamilton is from Hamilton originally and moved here 11 years ago after she visited Tillsonburg and “fell in love with it.” She loved it so much that she also moved her parents to town. As a real estate agent, she was involved in Hockey Moms and several committees in town. Hamilton knew some of her volunteer opportunities were time limited and would not continue in the new year, so she started looking and came across the advertisement for Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank coordinator. CONTINUED TO PAGE 12
SANTA CLAUS PARADE DRAWS HUGE CROWD
Tillsonburg’s second night-time Santa Claus parade was a huge success, drawing massive crowds to the streets on Nov. 16. Organized by the Optimist Club, the parade was over one (JEFF HELSDON PHOTO) hour long. See Pages 8 and 9 for more photos.
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