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Tillsonburg POST
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
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Tillsonburg passes budget with 4.78% increase Shop Hours: Mon - Fri: 8 am to 5 pm & Sat: 8 am to 4 pm
JEFF HELSDON Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Tillsonburg council passed its budget at the Jan. 27 meeting with a 4.78 per cent increase. The budget started with a 13.69 per cent increase, and was whittled down after council sent it back to staff with instructions to lower the increase. Part of the reason for the huge increase was impacts of a court-ordered retroactive settlement with the OPP, but the province since then announced it would absorb most of this cost. The increase will equate to a $143.74 increase in taxes on a
median residence value of $242,000. The 2025 total town budget of $42.7 million is comprised of an operating budget of $31.7 million and a capital budget of $11 million. Deputy Mayor Dave Beres asked if the reserves were being depleted too much with this budget, as some of the costs were funded from reserves instead of the tax levy. He was told by Director of Finance/Treasurer Renato Pullia that the reserves were $7.1 million at the beginning of 2024, $6.1 million at the end of the year and are predicted to sit at $3.5 million at the end of 2025. The treasurer said this was okay. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
Tillsonburg native on Tonight Show JEFF HELSDON Editor
Tillsonburg native Debra DiGiovanni hit the big time when she appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 22. “It’s the holy grail of comedy,” she said. “There’s something special about The Tonight Show, it’s been running so long.” DiGiovanni went to New York City to film the show. She arrived about 2 p.m., and taping started at 5:15 p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. “A well-oiled machine,” she said of the
show. “After it’s done, everyone is gone. Just a regular day for them and a dream for stand-ups.” Growing up in Tillsonburg, DiGiovanni never imagined she would be on The Tonight Show, or a comedian for that matter. She went to college in Toronto to study art. Although she quickly realized art wasn’t for her, there was an oral communications course. As part of the course, students had to reach into a bowl, pick a topic, and speak about it for two minutes. “I thought this is for me,” DiGiovanni quickly found. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
IT DOESN’T GET MORE CANADIAN THAN THIS (JEFF HELSDON PHOTO)
Lake Lisgar was a busy place on Jan. 26 with the sun shining and the thermometer creeping a little higher from the bone-chilling temperatures from the polar vortex the week before. The frigid conditions did solidify the ice and many Tillsonburg families took advantage of it. (Top) Cade Wilson and sister Raeya enjoyed pond hockey on a rink that was cleared. (Bottom) Ardent angler Mike Dearden and his sons Benny and JJ hit the ice to see what they could catch. Here Mike and Benny are hard at it.
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