staff and associated support and shared costs and reallocations from Land Acquisition as approved by the Finance and Audit Advisory Board.

 ERCA's Annual Revenues for programs and services ranks consistently in the top 10 of all 36 Conservation Authorities. At the same time, ERCA's operational levy funds less than 40% of its operations, placing ERCA in the bottom five of all Conservation Authorities, and well below the provincial average (approx. 50%).

 The expertise that ERCA provides is a cost effective way to manage regional environmental priorities. Uniquely, ERCA provides a significant cash return on investment in addition to the programs and services we provide municipalities.

Discussion

Each year, administration undertakes a comprehensive review of its programs and most pressing needs associated with annual budgets. These issues, challenges and opportunities were reported to the Board in September 2019 (BD23/18). At the time, due to uncertainties with provincial funding, Administration projected an operating deficit of between $375,000 and $560,000.

Since September, ERCA has confirmed continued provincial support for the Source Water Protection Program, Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, the Kingsville Leamington Nutrient Study, and the JRPH Community Museum Operating Grant. These are projected revenues into 2020, however there remains concerns regarding long term funding of these initiatives.

While the budget is represented as 'balanced', it was effected through a proposed levy increase of $148,000 (primarily a result of the decrease in provincial transfer payments relating to the Flood Forecasting program ($98,000) and costs associated with human resources) and reallocation of CW~GS land securement funding of almost $69,000. The total operating deficit for 2020, before proposed levy increases and levy reallocations was reduced from a projected $315,000 as identified in the 2020 Budget Pressures Report to ~$217,000, significantly lower than the potential projected high of $560,000.

To offset this deficit, and in attempting to strike an efficient balance between meeting the sustainability needs of our region and address our pressing organizational challenges to meet program delivery standards the ERCA Finance and Audit Advisory Board (FAAB) and Administration recommended an increase in levy of $148,000, which brings total levy from $3,238,667to $3,386,667. This is an increase of $0.49 per person, though the actual cost per household ($250,000) decreased by $0.12 to $19.57.

The remaining projected operating deficit of ~$69,000 was addressed through a redirection of land securement funding as recommended by Administration and the FAAB. The CW-GS levy directed to land securement will be reduced from $589,600 to $420,780, inclusive of the $69,000 as noted above plus $50,000 will be directed to the insurance reserve (depleted due to wind storm damage deductibles) and $50,000 to the