Mattawa’s Health Unit bill has risen 5 per cent over last year.
Each month, beginning Jan.1, the town owes the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit $5,763, which is $69,156 over the entire year. Just under $38 per resident annually.
Mayor Raymond Bélanger explained “We don’t have much wiggle room. About 75 per cent of our operating budget is numbers that we’re given, and we have to enter them. We have no say. We just have to pay if we’re to receive the service.”
The town has received a few sticker shocks this year for increased services. Fees to sustain Cassellholme in North Bay was just north of one million dollars, “crippling for Mattawa,” Mayor Bélanger noted.
See: Cassellholme fees ‘crippling for Mattawa’ Mayor Bélanger warns
Mattawa’s OPP services also shot up 21 per cent, which meant an additional $113,923 from the town’s coffers, an increase the town’s CAO, Paul Laperriere called “ludicrous.” The province stepped in with $77 million to offset those rising costs, and Mattawa will receive $103,000 to help pay the 2025 OPP bill.
“What happens next year,” the mayor wondered after the announcement was made.
See: Provincial funds for OPP a start, but not enough
Now, another bill “That we have no choice but to pay,” Mayor Bélanger said.
Council agreed to invite representatives from the Health Unit to Town Hall to make a presentation regarding the increases. “We’re not impressed,” Mayor Bélanger added, “And furthermore, we’d like more explanation.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
