Investment In ERCA Paying Off
General Manager Richard Wyma says levies from municipalities have proven to be a good investment.
The Essex Region Conservation Authority General Manager Richard Wyma says levies from municipalities have proven to be a good investment.
Over the past ten years, ERCA has received $26.5-million in levy funding and in return, has secured more than $35-million in grant funding for the region.
Wyma says only about 25% of ERCA's annual budget is funded by municipalities.
"We do get benefits from municipal levy that helps fund our operations, but we use that levy and we leverage that with a lot of different partners be they provincial or federal governments through funding agreements through projects that we got," says Wyma. "We rely on a lot of extra dollars to help implement the programs that we deliver."
ERCA's 2017 budget totals $11.2-million and calls for a $91,000 increase from municipalities amounting to 34-cents per Windsor-Essex household.
The document is now in the hands of the city and surrounding municipalities with final approval expected in February.
