Emergency cash from province means Northern Ont. town won’t cease operations Aug. 1

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After going public with its financial crisis, officials in Fauquier-Strickland say the province has agreed to provide it with $300,000 in emergency funding to pay for operations for the next few months.

Council had passed a motion to cease municipal services effective Aug. 1 and lay off remaining staff, getting the province’s attention to its financial plight. It even planned to sell the community’s snowplow.

According to the agenda for a special meeting July 31, the township has accumulated an operating deficit of $2.5 million since 2014, in addition to $3.04 million in debts.

All reserves had been exhausted and the township was getting by using its line of credit, which was almost exhausted. That led the township’s council to vote to cease operations Aug. 1.

$300K in emergency funds

In a letter dated July 25, however, Robert Flack, Ontario’s minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said the province would give Fauquier-Strickland $300,000 to fund operations for the next three months, provided they met certain conditions.

The first condition was that they rescind the motion to cease municipal operations and lay off staff on Aug. 1. Councillors must also adopt its 2025 operating budget, including water and sewer, by Aug. 31.

A spending freeze must also be put in place, tax bills have to be issued and financial documents have to be submitted to the ministry by Sept. 15.

“To ensure appropriate and prudent decisions are made with the best interests of the residents of your community, I expect council to fulfill its duties and responsibilities under the Municipal Act,” Flack wrote.

That includes managing their finances in a way that ensures “the financial integrity of the township.”

If all conditions are met, the township would receive $32,200 in August, $195,000 in September and $72,800 in October.

Read the full agenda for the July 31 meeting here.