After cost estimates for Collingwood’s new water treatment expansion ballooned to $270 million in September, the town opted to start a task force of municipal representatives and members of the Collingwood development community to work together on solutions.
As part of early talks, the town’s chief administrative officer Sonya Skinner told CollingwoodToday in a recent interview that the municipalities are hoping developers might offer to donate some of their own funds toward the expansion.
“There is a hope, but we are certainly open to developers looking at innovative options with us. It may be upfront funding. It may be through a guarantee of cash flow. There may be innovative ideas we haven’t even thought of,” Skinner told CollingwoodToday following the Oct. 3 council meeting when the task force was struck.
While the town has its own policy regarding donations, it focuses more on when donations are eligible for tax receipts, and less on the circumstances in which those donations are appropriate.
The town’s donation policy has been in place since November 2010, and is intended to outline how donations are handled and when tax receipts are issued. The policy only applies when a charitable donation income tax receipt is requested.
“All donations will be in keeping with Town of Collingwood’s vision and mission and will not in any way negatively impact the town’s public image,” notes the policy.
“The Town of Collingwood reserves the right to reject any gift or donation in whole or in part.”
Under the definition by Canada Revenue Agency and included in the town policy, a donation/gift is a voluntary transfer of property owned by a donor to a donee, in return for which no benefit accrues to the donor.
Donations that qualify for a tax receipt include cash, capital, real or depreciable property, personal-use property (such as works of art, jewellery, rare books, stamps or coins), a leasehold interest/residual interest in property, donations of life insurance policies and donations made under a will.
The policy notes that donations and requests for donations that are made for specific purposes will require council approval.
“Long-term programs, where cash inflows and expenditures may span many years are best handled through the establishment of a reserve fund,” notes the policy, including that an example of this would be in the case of a specific capital project.
“Requests to direct donations to a specific operation or for specific capital projects, such as to a community or cultural centre... are best handled by recording the revenue directly to the appropriate capital account,” notes the report.
In an emailed statement sent to CollingwoodToday regarding developer donations, the town’s senior administration noted that the town does not have its own policy that covers developer contributions to municipal programs/projects.
“However, for the water treatment plant expansion specifically, they would be covered by front-ending or early payment agreements under the Development Charges Act,” reads the statement forwarded by the town’s communications manager Christa Carter. “The town would not accept contributions from developers outside of the early payment agreement or front-ending agreement.”
“The town would encourage developers to get involved in showing their commitment to the community by working with the municipality on projects that would benefit the community at large,” she wrote. “At the same time, the town honours its system of accountability and transparency in its decision making.”
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