Conservation Authority approves 2008 budget

North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority
News Release

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The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) presented its 2008 budget during the monthly Board meeting this evening and received the unanimous support of the NBMCA’s Board of Directors. The 2008 budget, designed to be the NBMCA’s sixth balanced budget in a row, marks the Board’s renewed ability to focus on the NBMCA’s programs and services since resolving the issue of the NBMCA’s $5.47 million debt in 2007.

“With the debt settled, we are determined to ensure that the NBMCA remains fiscally responsible to the community it serves. I’m confident that this budget strikes a strong balance between the continued provision of quality programs and services and the wise use of our financial resources,” said Marc Charron, Chairman of the NBMCA’s Board of Directors.

As a non-profit organization, the NBMCA’s annual revenue is derived from a variety of sources including the Ministry of Natural Resources transfer payments (10%), member municipalities (17%), other program grants (21%), carry over from 2007 (14%), and land sales (4%). The remaining 34% is revenue generated through the NBMCA’s programs and services. The 2008 budget included increases in permit and program related fees for the Development, Interference with wetlands and Alterations to shorelines and watercourses program. A re-organization of the project size-based categories coincided with the fee increase in order to better reflect a project’s scope and to reduce the impact of the fee increases for applicants. The new 2008 fee schedule will come into effect on March 1, 2008.

“We needed to raise our development permit fees so that they more accurately reflected the cost of issuing permits while keeping the fees well within the range of what similar sized conservation authorities charge,” explains Mr. Charron. “Raising the permit fees for applicants also enabled us to limit the subsidization of the program through the municipal levy.”

Source Protection planning, now led by a local source protection planning committee, will continue to be coordinated by the NBMCA and fully funded by the provincial government. Source Protection is a requirement of Ontario’s Clean Water Act and requires the development of a local plan to protect water at the source as the first step in a multi-barrier approach to the treatment of municipal drinking water.

The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) was founded in 1972 by the Province of Ontario and the NBMCA’s 10 member municipalities. A non-profit organisation, the NBMCA works closely with the public to ensure the environmental health of the region’s watershed. The NBMCA is one of 36 Conservation Authorities who are members of Conservation Ontario.

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