Haldimand County Council approves 2025 Rate-Supported Operating & Capital Budget

On Tuesday, December 5, 2024, Haldimand County Council reviewed and approved the 2025 Rate-Supported Operating & Capital Budget. Otherwise known as the Water & Wastewater Budget, this important strategic document ensures that reliable, safe, clean and affordable potable water is available to residents across the County.

The Rate-Supported Budget deals exclusively with water and wastewater treatment initiatives & is funded directly by user rates (with no financial support from property taxes). Haldimand provides water and sewer services to over 10,400 citizens and businesses through the use of treatment, collection and distribution systems that carry a replacement cost of over $1.4 billion in infrastructure assets.

Operating these systems is highly legislated and requires approximately $17.1 million to do so in 2025, which equates to an annual impact of $6.79 or 7.77% per month for the average residential user.

The 2025 budget includes $11.6 million in capital expenditures; $8.2 million on the water side and $3.4 million on the wastewater side to maintain, improve and optimize the operation of existing systems and to add capacity in response to growth.

Major water-related projects slated for 2025 include, but are not limited to:

• New Caledonia Wastewater Treatment Plant
• McClung Road Forcemain River Crossing to new Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Caledonia North Water Storage Expansion
• Hagersville Wastewater Treatment Plant grit removal system

The 2025 budget also includes $29.1 million in operating expenditures; $17.0 million on the water side and $12.1 million on the wastewater side.

Factors impacting the 2025 Rate-Supported budget and user rates include:

• An increase to Ontario Clean Water Agency wastewater and Veolia water operations contracts based on inflation and historical actuals;
• An increase to the billing and collections contract  driven by postage increases from Canada Post;
• A 10% increase to the rate charged to Haldimand County for purchased water, offset partially by trending decreases in water consumption;
• The addition of a new, enhanced risk mitigation and compliance program to ensure the county continues to comply with provincial legislation and plan for potential issues to prevent negative impacts; and
• A detailed review of water/wastewater users and consumption statistics that showed lower users and consumption rates than historically estimated, necessitating a one-time adjustment to the rate model to ensure cost recovery and prevent future deficits.

Overall, Haldimand’s water & wastewater rates remain below the provincial average (when considered as a percentage of household income) due to ongoing strategic planning efforts and asset management practices.

New water & wastewater rates take effect on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

Council will next review the Tax-Supported Operating & Capital Budgets on the following dates:

Tax-Supported Capital Budget: Thursday, January 30, 2025

Tax-Supported Operating Budget: Thursday, February 27, 2025