'ARF' isn't just for dogs
If you compare the Town of Newmarket to your house, we all know that unforeseen costs come up in the home. The carpets need to be replaced, the furnace needs to be fixed, the sink is leaking, the list never ends. Now think about how much these general maintenance and repair costs would be for an entire town. A major infrastructure repair could cost millions of dollars and without appropriate financial planning this would have a drastic tax impact.
We all remember the popular boy scouts motto 'be prepared,' well that is essentially the theory behind Newmarket's Asset Replacement Fund (ARF). The Asset Replacement Fund is ultimately a big piggy bank. The purpose of this fund is to ensure that Newmarket can afford to replace future capital assets such as infrastructure and equipment without raising taxes or incurring new debt.
This prepares the Town for the inevitable replacement of water mains, pipes, vehicles, sidewalks, roads and much more. The Town of Newmarket makes significant contributions to the ARF each year (over $16 million in 2017). Paying for infrastructure replacement out of the ARF means no accrued interest, no new debt, and no significant tax increases.
