How does a zero per cent tax increase in 2021 sound?
The Town of Collingwood’s 2021 draft budget was presented to councillors for the first time on Wednesday night, and staff stuck to council’s September request to present a budget with a zero per cent increase for 2021.
As population growth has occurred in Collingwood over the past year and therefore the assessment base has grown, the town will still collect more municipal taxes than in 2020. The town has decided to put a two per cent cap on how much of the money from that growth can be spent in 2021, opting to put the rest (approximately $569,000) of the growth-related funding into reserves and reserve funds.
“We will not be charging homeowners anything different. The two per cent is available only because we’ve had growth,” said chief administrative officer Sonya Skinner. “Whatever a homeowner or a business paid last year would be the same number of dollars this year.”
Coun. Mariane McLeod asked for clarification on the population growth increase the town has seen over the past year.
Treasurer Mike Switzer said the town has seen approximately 5.3 per cent growth in population in 2020.
This means council has $60,365 left over to fund projects of their choosing, called additional service enhancements.
Staff made suggestions of which projects they thought might be good use of the money during last night’s meeting, including funding a new part-time climate specialist position at a cost of $50,000, starting the implementation of an urban forest management plan for $111,600, adding more support for physician recruitment for up to $25,000, implementing a crossing guard policy for $35,000, spending money on attainable housing, purchasing bicycles for bylaw staff at a cost of $3,500 or installing an acoustic ceiling, and security cameras at Central Park Arena for $43,000.
Coun. Keith Hull asked about the Central Park Arena enhancements.
“It’s a horrible facility in terms of that room. I’d like to know what the rationale is of repairing that. Is it because we’re actually going to use it? What’s the return?” he asked.
Dean Collver, the town's executive director of customer and corporate service, said there is a lack of rentable community space in Collingwood.
“The upgrades there would make the space more usable, which is a need in the community,” said Collver, adding that a cost-benefit analysis has not yet been done. “The quality of the space really makes it unusable right now.”
“I can’t, in any good conscience, spend any more money on that facility at Central Park,” said Hull.
The entire proposed 2021 budget of both capital and operating expenses comes in at $99.3 million in spending, split between $61.3 million in operating and $38 million in capital funding.
The tax levy accounts for $35.3 million of that, while the remainder comes from payments in lieu of taxes, grants, government transfers, non-tax income such as user fees and fines, investment income, development charges, and funding from reserves.
The budget includes requests for 8.3 new full-time equivalent positions, including a fleet and facilities capital projects co-ordinator, a co-op student for human resources support, five new bylaw enforcement positions including summer students, an engineering technician, engineering summer student, a contract economic development project manager, a manager of planning, a facilities splash-pad operator and a contract building inspector. This would represent a 3.6 per cent increase in staff numbers.
In the presented budget, major projects addressed include the Judicial Inquiry Report follow-up, a request for proposals for redevelopment of the grain terminals, a decision on the allocation of Collingwood’s asset sale proceeds, continuation of accessible transit, finalization of Fisher Field Fieldhouse plans, the Awen’ Splash Pad and Sunset Point EcoPark Playspace and renewal of drinking water agreements and substantial progress on expansion of the water treatment facility.
Councillors will be considering and discussing the budget and how to spend the additional service enhancement funds in the coming weeks.
The full budget document is available on Engage Collingwood. To have your say on the budget, public input is welcomed until Dec. 7 here.
There will also be a second strategic initiatives committee meeting on Dec. 9 to review the budget again following public consultation.
Council will be voting on the final 2021 budget on Dec. 21.
