With a few meetings and a multitude of deliberations yet to go, Amaranth Township's 2007 draft budget as of April 18 indicated the possibility of a 25 per cent rise in property taxes.

But if the township has experiences similar to those of other municipalities and the county, the final document could be a far cry from the draft.

Budget committee meetings are open to the public, but are being held separate and apart from regular council times.

The next one is at 8:30 a.m. May 2, when spending on roads is likely to be the biggest issue.

The April 18 meeting was at 4 p.m., prior to the council session.

In summary, estimates brought to that meeting showed a $1-million hike over the actual ones of 2006 - to $4.368-million from $3.309-million. Even so, expenditures in 2006 exceeded that year's budget by about $100,000 (budget $3.209-million, expenditures $3.309-million). All figures cited have been rounded to the nearest $1,000.

In 2006, various revenues of $1.508-million reduced the tax requirement to $1.801-million. Estimated revenues for this year, including permitted transfers from development charges, have grown by about $730,000 - to $2.239-million - but not enough to cover the estimated rise in spending.

The biggest ticket in the estimates is for roads - $2.5-million. This includes nearly $800,000 for bridges and about $300,000 for Mono/Amaranth Townline, as well as about $100,000 for dust-controlling calcium, and $125,000 for a new truck.

CAO Sue Stone said there had been minor changes to some of the items, but the amended figures were not immediately available Tuesday.

Among the minor items, she said the council had decided not to give itself a pay increase. She said this resulted in about a $4,500 reduction in the council budget.

The budget does not appear to include the full costs of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing.

Unlike civil courts, with rare exceptions the Board does not routinely award costs to anyone, no matter who wins the day.