Bradford West Gwillimbury Town Council is in the midst of budget deliberations.
On Wednesay morning, councillors and staff met in the Zima Room at the BWG Public library to begin going over a 2020 Operating Budget that proposes expenditures of $21,907,469 for municipal and $2,313,478 library purposes, a 1.91 percent increase over 2019.
But that accounts for only 34 percent of the total property tax bill.
Another seven percent of the bill relates to the Town’s Special Capital Levy, an addition to the tax levy brought in to help cover the eventual replacement costs of municipal infrastructure. In 2020, the Special Capital levy will total nearly $4.2 million, with another $860,000 set aside for future municipal facilities, bringing the overall town-related increase to 5.29 percent.
When that is combined with the 3.28 percent increase in the Police Levy, an estimated 5.04 percent hike in the County of Simcoe Levy, and a 1.86 percent hike in the province’s education tax, homeowners could be looking at an overall increase of 4.37 percent on their property taxes for 2020.
For the average BWG home valued at $481,892 by MPAC – the arms-length provincial assessment agency – that means an additional $201 in property taxes in 2020.
In previous years, the impact of increased expenditures has been offset by rapid growth and the assessment levied on new homes.
This year, that growth has slowed, due to uncertainty in the housing market – putting more of the burden on existing homeowners.
Chief Financial Officer Ian Goodfellow explained that from 2015 to 2019, the growth in assessment averaged 4.26 percent per year due to new construction, mitigating the impact of rising costs. Going forward, there is “a decline in real growth,” Goodfellow said.
“Real growth” for 2020 – new construction - is predicted at only 1.37 percent. “For 2021, perhaps we’re overly conservative, we’re tracking one percent,” said Goodfellow. “For 2022, we’ve estimated 1.5 percent new growth.”
The drop, by approximately two-thirds, creates a funding gap. “We will need to reach out to our existing property owners to meet that,” Goodfellow said – especially since 2019 has seen “significant tax write-offs.”
Aware of the slowing growth, town staff presented an overall Operating Budget that is only $609,974 higher than the 2019 levy, said Deputy Treasurer Nathalie Carrier.
Councillors were warned that salaries and benefits represent over 90 percent of the net operating budget, with negotiated increases and Cost of Living Allowances (COLA) accounting for most of the rise.
For the first time, councillors were asked to look at a three-year budget, mapping out potential expenditures from 2020 to 2022 – aiming to help council address long-term needs as defined by the town’s strategic plan, and to provide greater ‘accountability and transparency’ of proposed spending.
The budgets as presented propose a further 4.85 percent hike in 2021, up by $815,018, and a 4.16 increase in 2022, a $773,000 increase – with the Special Capital Levy continuing to add substantially to taxation.
On Wednesday, council began going through the budget – not only looking for savings, but listening to requests from department heads to add to the budget and further increase taxes – requests that, for the most part, received little support from council.
Initially, finding savings to offset the proposed increases wasn’t hard.
Coun. Gary Baynes proposed that an unexpected hike in the town’s insurance rates, announced after the municipality had renewed its policy, could be offset by using $200,000 per year for the next three years from the New Initiatives Reserve, established in 2017 with insurance savings.
Baynes also asked that a percentage of the $604,000 under-expenditure on salaries and benefits in 2019, as a result of unfilled positions, be used to offset rising costs in 2020.
“I did the calculation and I think there’s a lot of money sitting there,” said Baynes. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to see a big number… There’s always a favourable variance.”
He proposed using only 80 percent of the surplus, or about $483,000, to ensure there would still be enough in the coffers to cover outstanding 2019 overtime costs.
Baynes also proposed using $125,000 per year from the province’s one-time $535,000 Modernization Grant to help cover the cost of upcoming studies “and stuff that hasn’t come up yet.”
The library found another $20,000 in savings, as a result of hiring its new CEO; and $500 was cut from the training budget in the CAO’s Office.
“It’s good to see the reduction, even if it’s small,” said Mayor Rob Keffer.
As in previous years, proposals for cost savings, further cuts, and additional expenditures requested by staff were “parked’ in a ‘Parking Lot’ for further debate and discussion.
Before the end of the first day of discussion, the additions to the budget began to accumulate:
. $13,300 for an additional crossing guard
. $11,800 for a summer co-op student in Human Resources. “We anticipate the summer student would assist us with a number of audits,” explained Director Kelly Losak.
. $11,800 for a summer co-op student in Information Technology. The position would be ‘programmer,” said IT Manager Chris Harbour. “There’s good return on the value.”
. $162,000 for a deputy clerk, plus $9,800 to convert a part-time emergency planning co-ordinator position to full-time, in the Clerk’s Department.
. Fire and Emergency Services asked for a public educator/fire inspector at a cost of $138,800 in 2020, plus $35,000 to bring a part-time administrative assistant position to full-time, and an additional $40,000 to cover payments to volunteer firefighters. The hire of two additional full-time firefighters in 2021 was also proposed, at a cost of $218,100 annually; and another two in 2022, at a cost of $248,223.
Chief Kevin Gallant noted that there is a lengthy training process, before a firefighter can take his or her place on the front line, and that the new hires could help “build some capacity” for a new fire station planned for Bond Head.
Councillors did not support the requests. Coun. Gary Lamb asked why the fire department didn’t have a category equivalent to police auxiliary or special constable, to handle educational duties. “Why isn’t this a separate band, that doesn’t include a first class firefighter?” He was advised that the fire department was “bound by a collective agreement” that sets the rate for a fire inspector.
“This is not something I support right now. It’s definitely something we need to look at in the future,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc, refusing to add the ‘asks’ to the parking lot. As for the $35,000 request, to bring the administrative assistant position to full-time, he called it “a mighty expensive venture, for one more day.”
“We haven’t determined the needs for Bond Head,” said Coun. Mark Contois. “Are we putting the cart before the horse?”
Contois was advised that a Fire Services Master Plan study is in the 2020 budget, after it was deferred by council in 2019 – and that a second firehall is included in the 2021 capital budget.
He was also told that the additional hires would improve response times in Bradford, at the existing station. “By hiring the staff, we could put them to good use in Bradford. In my eyes, it’s a benefit,” said Chief Gallant. “Even if the second station is delayed a little bit, we’ll be able to protect the public better.”
. Community Services Director Terry Foran asked for an additional $18,200 to cover the cost of road maintenance.
Foran noted that in 2019, the road maintenance budget was set at $198,000; the actual amount spent was $337,000. “We spend $426,000 in 2018,” he told councillors. “Everything’s determined by what our seasons look like.”
He noted that an early snowfall in November has put even more strain on the budget. “We’re being clobbered with it this year a month and half early,” he said, pointing out that the weather service is predicting “a volatile year.”
Although Coun.Gary Baynes supported the request, noting, “I like the budget to match what the actuals are,” Deputy Mayor Leduc was opposed.
Calling 2019 “an anomaly,” Leduc said, “I’m gong to roll the dice.” He removed the request from 2020 – adding only $9,100 to the budget line in 2021, and $9,100 in 2022.
Mayor Keffer agreed. “The taxpayer’s only concerned about the bottom line. Some departments are going to have good years and be under budget, some departments will be over budget.”
A request for an additional $67,200 to cover ‘contractual services’ for Roads was also turned down.
Foran also requested additions to the budget for Parks and Facilities, noting that the 2020 budget was based on a three-year average of expenditures, and did not take into account that “we increased our actual parkland acreage by over 49 percent.”
Once again “our actuals are running above our 2019 budget,” Foran said, asking for a return of $29,500 cut from the Parks budget for materials and supplies, $34,000 for repairs and maintenance, and $5,000 for contractual services, “just to try to get back to somewhere close to what our actual is.”
Council did support the addition of $6,700 to change a Parks position to lead hand, and $48,100 to expand a seasonal operator position to full-time, placing those requests in the “Parking Lot."
Budget discussions are slated to continue today and tomorrow, and are open to the public. Still to come: Debate over the items in the ‘Parking Lot,’ and the capital budget.
