Council won’t be deciding how to spend $17.5 million in asset sale proceeds until the end of 2021.
The proceeds are from the sale of the town’s electric utility distribution (COLLUS) and the Collingwood Regional Airport.
CAO Sonya Skinner asked council during the strategic initiatives committee meeting on July 8, to decide between two timelines The first option involved waiting for several staff reports and updated plans with a decision made at the end of 2021. The second option meant waiting for a report on the Collingwood Terminals building and a community foundation and making a decision on spending at the end of 2020 or in the first quarter of 2021.
Councillor Kathy Jeffery said she’d prefer an option in between the two presented.
“The closer we get to 2022, an election year, the more crazy discussions go in terms of spending money,” she said. “$17 million sounds like a lot but we’re going to have to make some tough decisions.”
Councillor Mariane McLeod said it would only be about six months difference between the two.
“I think whether the discussion gets crazy during an election year will be up to us, so let’s commit not to get crazy,” she said.
Mayor Brian Saunderson noted once the election is close, council can be forced into a Lame Duck scenario where it is not allowed to spend money not already allocated in the approved budget.
“These are big decisions,” said Saunderson. “I’m in favour of … taking the time to make sure we have the best available options.”
Council opted to make the decision by the end of 2021 with six votes in favour. Councillor Kathy Jeffery had left the meeting for the vote, and Councillors Bob Madigan and Steve Berman were opposed to the choice.
CAO Skinner also asked council to weigh in on two lists of priorities for spending the asset sale proceeds.
The first list came from staff in a report on Feb. 11, 2019, and included the following ideas for places to spend the proceeds:
- Paying down tax-supported internal debt ($3.3M)
- Collingwood terminals (up to $10M)
- Extending services to the spit (Millennium Park), property in downtown/waterfront area, staff office space on the 10th line ($2.3M)
- Internal loan fund
- Reserves (including addressing the asset management gap)
- Legacy funds (community foundation, legacy fund investment with annual income)
The second list came from a public survey that garnered 716 responses. The options with the most public votes included:
- Paying down debt - 316 votes
- Terminals - 234 votes
- Waterfront master plan reserve fund - 210 votes
- Hospital reserve fund - 203 votes
- Support for the arts/culture/theatre - 189 votes
- Extending services to the spit - 127 votes
- Establishing an internal loan fund - 95 votes
- Property in or near the downtown core - 78 votes
Councillors at the meeting did not raise any objections or suggest changes to the lists, and staff will continue to explore all those options in future reports.
“This large amount is very unusual, and we can do a lot of things with this funding,” said Skinner. “I’m hoping we’ll support the town’s fiscal responsibility and sustainability … I really think the criteria we should be looking at … are projects that significantly contribute to our town vision … that are tangible, publicly useful, and enduring.”
Council has already allocated up to $2.5 million of the asset sale proceeds to a COVID recovery fund, though not all of that has been assigned yet. When the amount was approved, staff noted if the town received any funding from the province or federal government, that funding could replace what was taken from the asset sale proceeds.
