Money at heart of strained relations between Baddeck and Victoria County: village chair

Tom Ayers · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 27, 2025 2:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 27

Budget pressures are causing hostility betwixt the colony committee successful Baddeck, N.S., and Victoria County council, committee seat Jennifer MacDonald says.

Last year, the region cancelled each of its long-standing backing agreements with the colony and MacDonald said since then, some sides person started trying to enactment retired which level of authorities is liable for things similar sidewalk snowfall clearing and sewer and h2o services.

"Everybody wants to marque their dollars agelong arsenic acold arsenic imaginable and so, yeah, I deliberation portion of it is wealth and I deliberation portion of it is simply a shifting consciousness of work and agreements had been successful spot for a agelong clip and agreements request to beryllium renegotiated due to the fact that things alteration implicit time," MacDonald said Monday aft the colony commission's yearly wide meeting.

Neither region main administrative serviceman Leanne MacEachen nor Warden Jackie Organ returned calls for remark this week.

On its website, Victoria County says it is consenting to onslaught an statement connected shared services, but the colony needs to travel up with a five-year superior program and supporting fiscal documents earlier it tin hold connected immoderate much funding.

MacDonald said the colony is consenting to enactment with the county, but a broad superior program can't beryllium developed earlier the fall, erstwhile an engineer's appraisal is owed connected the village's aging sewer system.

The region says successful summation to a accepted cost-sharing agreement, some sides request to consider:

• Property taxes related to village-owned h2o inferior infrastructure.
• Tipping fees oregon contributions toward coagulated discarded management.
• Responsibility for garbage postulation wrong the village.
• Potential enactment from the municipality with taxation collection, including outgo recovery.

MacDonald said the colony was sharing the outgo of immoderate services nether long-standing agreements, but the recently elected committee has decided it does not privation residents to wage other for services they already wage for arsenic region taxpayers.

Sidewalk snowfall clearing is simply a bully example, MacDonald said.

The colony has done that enactment for years with a fiscal publication from the county.

But the colony does not ain the sidewalks, which MacDonald said are a municipal responsibility, according to the provincial Municipal Affairs Department.

She said the colony indicated past wintertime it was going to halt providing the service, but the region asked that it beryllium continued for 1 much year, truthful the colony did that retired of interest for the information of residents.

Last year, the work outgo the colony astir $35,000. MacDonald said the region has chipped successful $8,000 toward that successful the past, but did not lend thing this past winter, adjacent though the work is paid afloat by the region successful different communities.

"That'll person to beryllium different treatment … due to the fact that it surely is simply a work that is provided by the municipality elsewhere and … wherefore is it that the Village of Baddeck taxation complaint should subsidize that?"

Not personal

Garbage postulation and sewer and h2o services are besides provided to different communities, paid for retired of region wide funds, which Baddeck taxpayers besides wage into, MacDonald said.

Money is astatine the bosom of the hostility betwixt the colony committee and the region council, she said.

"Although the narration is strained, it's surely not a reflection of relationships betwixt commissioners and councillors being strained," she said.

"I deliberation it's conscionable a reflection of antithetic levels of authorities and their responsibilities and the pressures that everyone feels. I deliberation that's wherever the hostility is, not personally."

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