“This is where the hard work begins in earnest.”

That’s the message Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop, chair of Niagara Region’s budget committee, had for fellow councillors last week as they embarked on meeting the 3.5 per cent budget guidance they provided to the regional departments as well as agencies, boards and commissions they must fund.

“The numbers are quite shocking and reflect a lack of understanding, in my view, by the province of the cost of providing these services and a disregard for the financial burden they place on local taxpayers,” Redekop said. “It is not right, and it is not sustainable.”

Redekop said councillors will have to balance the sustainability of the Region’s operations and capital needs with a financial envelope “taxpayers can afford.”

Over the last three bud

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