Witless Bay budget up about 30 per cent

By Mark Squibb/January 13, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay will spend some $1.36 million more this year than it did in 2021, according to the budget document released by the Town.

The 2022 spending and taxation plans weighs in at $5.76 million, an increase of about 30 per cent over last year.

The town expects to collect $1.26 million in taxes, both business and residential. Residential taxes, totaling about $905,185, will account for the lion’s share of tax revenue. Some 750 homes will be taxed, including 69 properties that will be taxed at the minimum rate of $550. Some 41 businesses will be taxed for a total revenue of $102,916 in property taxes. The town plans to collect a further $137,560 in other business taxes.

As reported in the Irish Loop Post last week, taxes for businesses are increasing pretty well across the board.

A large portion of the town’s anticipated revenue comes courtesy of provincial and federal governments. The town has budgeted over $2.89 million in government grants and subsides, the majority of which is expected to come from the provincial government.

One of the larger expenses is the cost of annual road and vehicle maintenance for which the town is budgeting a total of $393,000. Snow removal is estimated at $238,000.

The town has budgeted $124,500 for recreational and cultural services, $203,177 for fire protection, and just over $376,970 for general government, which includes salaries, benefits, travel, supplies, and insurance. The general government budget includes over $26,360 set aside for professional services. That term covers a wide gambit of occupations including architects, accountants, engineers, and lawyers

The town will also make a payment of over $212,000 to the Community Credit Union for five loans the town has withdrawn for various town projects, including a $899,442 loan for a new fire hall.

Council presented certain portions of the budget during a public meeting on December 30.

Baked, boiled and bred in the bone

Growing up on the Southern Shore, John Curran was steeped in Irish music

By Patrick Newhook/January 13, 2022

Across the coasts of Newfoundland and along the sea of Labrador, music is a predominant aspect of everyday life.  

The town of Ferryland, a small community of 414, is among the more prominent when it comes to music and breeding musical talent.  

Among that pool is John Curran, a founding member of The Masterless Men, one of the most well-known acts in the province. He was raised and lived in Ferryland until he graduated high school. Growing up there, Curran describes it like any other bay town. 

“I say it was like any typical Newfoundland outport community. I loved it, I have many memories of growing up in Ferryland, from going to school to playing sports, to playing softball, going to church,” said Curran. 

Curran’s father was a fisherman and his mom worked at a local store, and both played music and sang.

 Curran recalls his childhood as being surrounded by music. Being around it so much encouraged him to start playing. 

“Music was always a major part of our family. There were many parties at our house, I remember watching and listening to guitar playing and singing when I was young and I remember being made part of it as I got older and it was always there,” said Curran. 

Curran said the Southern Shore has having a distinct sound when compared to other areas. He would describes the style as ‘Irish.’ Growing up there played a big part in defining Curran’s taste and style in music.  

“There was always Irish music in our house, on our record player, on our cassette players,” said Curran. “It’s just what we did, so growing up in Ferryland, on the Irish Loop, Irish music was a major influence…it was just what we grew up with.” When looking back, Curran isn’t sure he would be the same type of musician if he had been raised somewhere else, allowing every part of Newfoundland has its own unique preferences. 

“Oh, I would say definitely not. Our band, The Masterless Men, we started off as Colcannon some years ago. We’ve traveled fairly extensively as a professional band. We’ve been to the West Coast, we’ve been to the various bays and peninsulas in Newfoundland. Different styles are very obvious. Like I remember we went to Wesleyvill and I remember being backstage, for instance, and some guy said, ‘Which one of you plays accordion?’ and we said we don’t have an accordion and he was appalled. He said, ‘What, no accordion in your band?’ Every bay, peninsula, segment of the island for sure has a different style of music.”

Even the names Masterless Men and Colcannon have a Southern Shore flavour. The Masterless Men is based on stories of early settlers who rebelled against the strict conditions imposed by their employers and bosses on the coast to fend for themselves as masterless men inland. Colcannon, meanwhile, is a popular term of describing vegetable hash. 

Curran visited Ireland once, and when there he noticed how similar it is to what he grew up around.  

“I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland and I did with my wife and my sisters a few years back and I was amazed at how similar Ireland was to where I grew up,” he said. “I sang some of these songs with the place names in the songs. We went to Athenry or wherever, and it was like ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been singing that song for 25 or35 years.” 

The band turned 30 years old in 2021. For Curran, it’s been an honour to see younger generations enjoying the same songs he grew up listening to. 

“I’m 57 now, and I started the band 30 years ago. It’s so encouraging to be on a stage whether it’s at an Iceberg Alley, or O’Reilly’s Pub or the Arts and Culture Centre or George Street Festival wherever it may be,” said Curran. “You look down at the front of the stage and you see people who are in their 20’s or barely in their 20’s singing the words to songs that I’ve been singing for 30 or 40 years, and you’re saying, ‘Sure that person’s only 18 years old and they know all the words.’ That’s fantastic. I think It’s encouraging to see lots of the younger generation who have latched on to Irish and folk music.”

Bay Bulls budget half-a-million dollars higher than 2021

By Mark Squibb/January 6, 2022

The Town of Bay Bulls has balanced the books right down to the penny.

The 2022 Budget, which was presented during the December 13 public meeting, is perfectly balanced at exactly $3,411,368.94. Both revenue and expenses are up considerably from last year’s budget, when the town budgeted $2.73 million in revenue and $2.68 million in expenses, leaving council with a surplus of roughly $52,000.

By way of revenue, perhaps the largest single difference between this budget and Budget 2021 is approximately $810,000 in federal grants and subsides absent from the 2021 budget. Budget 2022 also includes an additional operating surplus of approximately $234,600. The Town did see a slight dip in provincial grants and subsides, dipping to approximately $559,850 from $654,290.

The Town is anticipating a slight uptake in residential tax revenue this year. The mil rate, as previously reported by the Irish Loop Post, will remain at 4.5 mils, however the town will receive taxes from 701 homes as opposed to just 620 in 2021. Commercial tax revenue however is anticipated to sink, as the number of taxable businesses dropped to 36 from 41. The town is anticipating $106,135 from commercial mil rate tax, against $116,744 collected last year.

The addition of a new staff person has increased town salaries from $128,750 to $181,400.

Witless Bay council targets businesses for tax hikes in last minute budget

By Mark Squibb/January 6, 2022

Witless Bay council neglected to mention a number of business tax increases during its short budget presentation last week.

Council approved the town’s budget for 2022 in a special meeting held on December 30, just ahead of the year end deadline. The details provided during the public meeting were sparse.

The motion to adopt it, moved by Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and seconded by councilor Gerard Dunne, was approved unanimously.

Yard said that as finance committee chairman Alex Troake was unavailable for the meeting, she would give a brief overview of the budget.

She began by saying the finance committee worked very hard to ensure there were no increases in residential property tax for the coming year.

“We had hoped to bring the mil rate down half a percentage to 4.5, but with the numbers that we had, it just wasn’t possible this year,” said Yard. “One of the main reasons for this is because there was a decrease in property assessments, and that brought down the amount of tax the town can collect. And as a result, we were below the threshold per resident of roughly $970 per head that we are required to collect in order to qualify for municipal grants and Gas Tax money. This metric is called Own Source Revenue, and we can only fulfill our Own Source Revenue obligations through taxes. We can’t use any other source of income.”

The previous council, in Budget 2021, successfully petitioned the provincial government for an exemption to the Own Source Revenue requirement.

Yard said the flip side of the decrease in property assessments meant that many residents may see a slight reduction in their tax bills.

She said council is committed to working harder in 2022 for next year’s budget and will have a full year to do so. The current members of council were all elected in this past fall’s municipal election. Yard said the goal is to bring the residential tax down to 4.5 mils.

Yard mentioned the general business category mil rate increased from 12 mils to 12.5 mils, which she described as a modest increase and well below neighbouring communities, which she said held at around 14.5 mils.

However, that was really just the tip of the iceberg when it came to commercial business tax increases.

The 2022 tax structure published to the town’s website on Tuesday showed multiple commercial tax increases. The commercial property tax itself increased, rising from 8 mils to 10 mils. Also not mentioned was the increase in the mil rate for banks and financial intuitions from 40 mils to 50 mils, an increase from 18 mils to 25 mils for fish plants, and an increase from 6 mils to 7 mils for personal care and retirement homes. Service stations and seasonal tourism businesses are not included on the 2022 tax list.

Yard said council felt it was fair and equitable to increase the business mil rate, as she claimed the business tax has remained steady over the years while residential taxes had risen.

Yard also said council is investigating how to provide a discount to seniors, those on income support, and low-income families.

“Of course, the government no longer allows municipalities to offer something called a seniors’ discount because it doesn’t include all groups, but what we did was we spoke with other municipalities, like town of Torbay, Portugal Cove, Paradise to determine how they try to offer discounts to people on low income, and, a lot of seniors would fall under that category,” said Yard. “And basically, they do a discount based on income, and for us, that seemed like the way to go, but our accountant advised us that we couldn’t do it this year because we have to provide residents with applications early in the year, and once we get those applications back, we can build the discount, say the loss, into our budget. And of course we wouldn’t be able to do it for 2022 because we haven’t got the applications out.”

Yard also said the town hopes to begin work on new capital works projects and new fire hall in 2022, provided the town is successful in securing funds.

She concluded by saying the town would be posting a more detailed budget summary online in the coming days.

As of Tuesday, the tax structure had been published online, but the budget had not.

There was little discussion on the budget, though before Yard’s presentation councillor Nancy Burke noted one area in which she was not entirely satisfied.

Burke said that while she was pleased council is supporting the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA), she was disappointed council is not providing the full $50,000 requested, as the group is still unable to fundraise because of Covid.

“However, I do support the decision of council, and this budget, and I look forward to our continued collaboration with the BBBAA,” said Burke.

The actual amount that was set aside for the BBBAA was not mentioned.

The budget’s total revenues and expenditures, and whether it is actually balanced as required by provincial legislation, were also not indicated. The Irish Loop Post was unable to reach anyone at the Town Hall to request a full copy of the budget as is provided by other municipalities.

Latest Covid Alert level puts a cap on Southern Shore rec leagues

By Patrick Newhook/January 6, 2022

The Southern Shore is home to several thriving recreational hockey leagues, and with COVID-19 cases increasing daily, it’s getting more and more challenging to keep them running while living under a pandemic. 

Justin Walsh, president of the Down The Shore Hockey League, described that group as a serious league featuring a lot of friendly competition for the 50 to 60 players who take part.

 “We play every Thursday night, same group of fellows, usually it’s good, it’s a league that’s competitive, not too aggressive, but it’s competitive for say a beer league,” said Walsh. 

The players range from 20 to 40 year old’s, with members from along the Shore and even some from St. John’s. They have four teams with sponsors.

 “COVID has messed it up the last couple of years, but usually we try to get 18 regular season games in and then we play the play-offs which is all four teams in the league… You could play anywhere up to 28 games if it goes five games in each round in the playoffs, or you could play 20 or 21 games,” said Walsh. 

With recent spikes in COVID-19 cases and with the province moving into Alert Level 3 on December 22, the future of the Down the Shore Hockey Leagues season is in question. 

“If it stays at Level 3, we can continue to play, if it moves any higher we’ll have to shut it down,” said Walsh. 

Managing a hockey league during a pandemic isn’t easy.  

“It’s a bit of a pain especially when fellows are paying registration money and then the league gets cut short, so you’ve got to work around that and see how much money you’ve got to give the fellows back to ensure they want to come back next year because they didn’t play the whole year,” said Walsh. “If it stays at Level 3 we can continue to play, if it moves any higher we’ll have to shut it down.”  

Since the interview, the province has gone into Alert Level 4 as of January 4, which further increases the amount of restrictions in place for gatherings. 

Walsh later confirmed the league may be cancelled for the rest of the season. 

“As of now it means that we are shut down, we have no more hockey,” said Walsh. “As long as it stays in Level 4 like this.” 

Walsh is waiting to see what the government says next to see if they may be able to start up again, but realizes they may have to wait until September, COVID-19 permitting. 

“Now they (the provincial government) say that they’ll update it in two weeks and say how it’s going, but once there’s no hockey in the arena for two or three weeks, they’ll end up taking the ice off I would say,” said Walsh. 

Despite being disappointed the league likely won’t get to finish its season, Walsh does understand why this is happening. 

“I’m on board with it, they done the right thing and shut everything down,” he said.

Penney optimistic about BBBAA in 2022

By Patrick Newhook/December 30, 2021

Even though it was another Covid year, 2021 was kinder to the Bay Bulls-Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) than 2020 was, says its chairman, Scott Penney.

But Penney admitted the BBBAA is still not back to doing things exactly as it did in the past.  

Among the challenges the group faced this past year was a financial one. The BBBAA usually hosts an annual auction and gala dinner. In the past, the event has generated between $75,000 and $100,000 annually. The money is often piggybacked on to funds from local councils and together leveraged to obtain provincial government money for community infrastructure such as softball field upgrades.
“Our infrastructure needs investment,” Penney said. “When you sit around a council and try to find funding for recreation and there’s a question between recreation versus roads, recreation would lose that argument one hundred percent of the time. Which is part of it, we get that. Our ability to go and fundraise through our auction every year and raise somewhere between $75,000 to $100,000, and then reinvest that and leverage the money, that’s a big, big impact for us. For us, that’s a critical challenge.” 

Penney hopes the auction will make a comeback. 

Financial challenges aside, Penney still saw plenty of positives in 2021. 

“The positives are that we got people back doing things with the services that we provide,” said Penney. “The soccer facility was full to capacity, our summer program, even though we had them split to keep the numbers down, we were able to maximize our occupancy on those which is positive.” 

Penney is looking forward to 2022 and 2023, and believes that while the future is unknown, it seems bright for the BBBAA. 

“We’ll continue to do what we do to make sure our communities continue to be great places to live and raise a family,” said Penney. “I’m very hopeful and positive for 2022.”