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Citizens weigh in with advice for Collingwood's 2023 budget

Citizens call for beautification of Collingwood's downtown, on-demand accessible transit and other items during Coffee with Council session
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Erika Engel/CollingwoodToday

Accessible transit, beautification of the Collingwood Business Improvement Area (BIA) and the town’s plans for a master transportation study were all topics of discussion during a community meeting on the 2023 draft budget this week.

On Monday (Nov. 28), council met with the public during two Coffee with Council meetings – one virtual and one in-person – to get a sense of how residents are feeling about plans for town spending in 2023.

As it stands now, "unavoidable" increases to the 2023 draft budget will account for a 1.78 per cent tax rate increase. Additional "value-added" items up for council consideration, if all adopted, would see that increase creep up to 5.31 per cent.

Residents who attended the virtual session had even more items they’d like to see council turn their attention to in 2023, which could elevate that increase even higher.

Tim Cormick asked about beautification of the downtown. He said that while the BIA is funded by taxes collected by downtown business owners and the BIA has recently been the recipient of some grant funding to pay for further beautification, there is a dilemma as the town’s parks and recreation (PRC) department is responsible for operational aspects of annual maintenance of that beautification, and can only afford to maintain so much.

“The PRC department does not have sufficient resources to actually execute the plan as envisioned. How can budgeting account for the BIA having funds that can be spent and support the necessary resources to ask the PRC to go above the base level of maintenance and garden installation?” asked Cormick.

Dean Collver, the town's director of parks, recreation and culture, said that even if they were to get funding to double the number of gardens in Collingwood’s downtown, the town wouldn’t have the operational capacity to maintain those gardens.

Treasurer Monica Quinlan noted the annual operating budget for maintenance of greenspaces is $225,000 to cover the entire town.

“The downtown gardens, I think everyone acknowledges, needs a level of support above and beyond what it’s receiving. Status quo is not working,” said Cormick.

The draft 2023 budget was first presented during a Nov. 23 special strategic initiatives standing committee meeting and proposed a 1.78 per cent tax rate increase for unavoidable expenses in 2023 including $1.17 million in wage increases, a $302,569 increase for utilities and fuel, $250,000 for the continuation of the grain terminals project and a $132,586 increase in insurance rates.

Value-added items (also called items for consideration) being pondered would bring the tax rate increase to 5.31 per cent or higher in 2023, depending on which priorities council decides are most important to add this coming year.

These items include $314,000 added to the asset management plan reserve, $305,000 toward an urban forestry unit, $65,000 for a fireworks drone show, $91,000 toward a transit coordinator position and $100,000 for a heritage review.

The 2023 draft budget accounts for $133.7 million in spending, with about a 50-50 split for capital versus operating costs. The 1.78 per cent increase represents the overall taxes collected by the municipality from $36,779,741 in 2022 to $38,416,934 in 2023.

SEE MORE: Want vs. need: Council wants to hear from you on 2023 budget

During Monday’s virtual session, an attendee who identified herself as Katie asked questions about accessible transit in town, as the town will be ending its contract with Ace Cabs and Red Cross on Dec. 15 and will be switching to a new accessible scheduled service in a joint agreement between Clearview, Collingwood and Wasaga Beach with Landmark Sinton called TransitPLUS.

SEE MORE: New accessible transit rolling into Collingwood mid-December

Katie said she felt the service should be on-demand as the regular service will be, rather than booked days in advance, and the town should be paying the additional cost to ensure equity.

“It will be a change but we are hoping to see, and are confident we will see, an improvement to the level of service,” said Peggy Slama, the town's director of public works, engineering, and environmental services. She noted that once the service gets going she is hoping the advance booking windows will be reduced.

Multiple questions were asked by residents both through call-ins and typed methods regarding roads, traffic studies, active transportation and a master transportation study, which is planned for 2023.

Quinlan told residents that a town-wide traffic calming and speed reduction study was completed in 2021 and a one-year update will come forward in 2023 at a cost of $40,000 included in the budget.

“Collingwood needs a master transportation plan (MTP) policy document. We currently do not have one,” wrote Darlene Craig.

“Kudos to staff for bringing this important study forward. This must also include the development of a complete streets policy with the goal of balancing the needs of all transportation modes and users, not just vehicular traffic," Craig added.

“Where do we find information about those upcoming projects, and how can we participate in the process of setting the vision for those important corridors (Sixth and Peel) before preliminary design decisions are made?” asked an anonymous attendee.

Quinlan said there is information in the budget package regarding all budgeted projects in any given year. Additionally, Engage Collingwood has up-to-date information on all projects being undertaken by the town.

“Not all the projects trigger public consultation, however as staff we try to be cognizant of projects where the public will be interested, and we’re interested in hearing from the public, especially road reconstruction projects” said Slama.

Attendees were asked poll questions throughout the session, asking them item-by-item which value-added expenses they would support. Results of the poll questions and comments received during the Coffee with Council sessions will be used to help inform the second draft of the budget, which is expected to be considered by councillors on Dec. 5 at council’s strategic initiatives standing committee.

For more information on the 2023 draft budget, or to submit your own comments to the town, click here.


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Jessica Owen

About the Author: Jessica Owen

Jessica Owen is an experienced journalist working for Village Media since 2018, primarily covering Collingwood and education.
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