It was announced yesterday, December 9th, that the province is releasing infrastructure funding under the Ontario Communities Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) program and that’s good news for Saugeen Shores.
In recent budget discussions, it was decided that several infrastructure projects would go forward contingent on OCIF funding. Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson announced that not only is there funding available but it is more than in 2021.
In 2021, Saugeen Shores received $848,610 and, for 2022, the funding has been increased to $1,738,454. According to Treasurer, Daniel Waechter, OCIF funding is an important source of funding that is available for ‘core infrastructure’ projects. Core projects that were approved by Council under the Future Capital Reserve can now use the OCIF funding which would then free up Reserve funds to be used for additional infrastructure projects.
According to the Treasurer, the Future Capital Reserve projection at the end of 2022 is $1,484,806. The Tax Stabilization Reserve balance is $540,850 with $386,000 that has to be retained as a base.
Before the OCIF funding amount was known, Council had decided to approve projects contingent on the OCIF but, if it had not come through, the projects would then have been re-visited and decided upon by priority and funding sources available.
Fortunately, however, the OCIF funding was announced by MPP Thompson and Council will now re-visit projects at the next budget meeting in January.