The town of Lincoln has announced a hiring freeze as it sets its budget for the year.
While the town's budget still needs to be ratified on Monday night, it's estimated taxpayers will see a 6.5% increase over last year, and that is not including the cost of Regional Transit.
Mayor Sandra Easton says council recognizes the importance of having the budget reflect the needs of the community, while remaining respectful of taxpayer dollars.
She says the hiring freeze will help keep staffing costs inline with the overall goal of maintaining a budget that balances affordability, while delivering on the high-quality services.
Easton says the town is also looking at saving money by teaming up with other municipalities.
"In addition, including a motion calling for the investigation of additional opportunities for shared services with other local area municipalities in Niagara, will allow us to find efficiencies while continuing to lead the way in service delivery.”
This year’s budget approval was accompanied by two motions and direction to the CAO; looking at more shared services, and a hiring freeze on any net new positions for 2023.
Some of the new projects included in the budget include, Lakeshore Roads and Shoreline Protection Project to mitigate the effects of climate change and lakeshore erosion, Durham Road, Lincoln Avenue and Greenlane Road (Lincoln-Bartlett) reconstruction in the west side of Lincoln, Truck Bypass Camera Monitoring Pilot Program, Prudhommes Watermain Upgrades Construction to support growth and development in the neighbourhood.
"The budget represents a 7.5% increase on the Town’s portion of the tax bill, which is an overall impact of 2.77% to Lincoln’s residents, as the Town of Lincoln is only responsible for approximately 37% of the overall tax bill."
The estimated overall percent impact on the Tax Bill, excluding Regional Transit, is 6.57%.