When it comes to tax assessments across Grey County there is a need to compare apples-to-apples, says Rob Sampson, town councillor for the Town of The Blue Mountains (TBM).
“The county thinks we are under-taxed, but it is not an apples-to-apples comparison. With a $500,000 assessment, what kind of a house do you get in Meaford? What kind of a house do you get in TBM? And, what kind of a house do you get in Hanover? Totally different,” Sampson said.
Sampson was on hand on March 3 at the Citizens’ Forum in Thornbury to discuss the town’s 2020 draft budget. The Citizens’ Forum is a group of concerned residents from the TBM who meet weekly to discuss pressing issues happening within the community.
While discussing the town’s relationship with the county, Sampson said there is a need to look at how much TBM residents are paying into the county compared to the other municipalities.
“We [TBM residents] are taxed more than everyone else in the county for the average comparable property assessment,” Sampson said. “Of the tax dollars you are paying, less of it is kept locally to pay for infrastructure, versus the other communities. They get to keep more of their tax for local spending. That might be why Hanover has a nice community centre and you don’t.”
While he would like to see more of the tax collected kept within the municipality, Sampson says the county’s decision to return the additional income the TBM generated in 2019 from supplementary taxation is a good start.
“I think it is important to start communicating to the county and to ourselves on how we are taxed and where our taxes go. This directly impacts how much we have to spend locally on roads, community centres and all of those things that we want to do,” Sampson said.
Attendees at the Citizens’ Forum applauded the 2020 draft budget’s inclusion of an increase in compensation to council, as well as the council’s decision to enact a discretionary bonus pool for town staff.
“We want to put our money where our mouth is and really reward our staff when they hit some of these challenging targets we are putting on them,” Sampson said. “For the first time ever, we can start a performance pay process based on mutually beneficial results.”
Bonuses will be awarded to town staff based on performance from a pool that totals $150,000. Any unawarded amounts will be returned to the pool for the following year.
A change in tipping fees for unsorted materials at the landfill was also noted, something the town adopted following a deputation presentation from Rosemary Gosselin, one of the group’s members.
Attendees also brought forward concerns surrounding the town’s roadside ditching plans and whether these include improving catchment areas prior to the spring melt.
“One of my concerns is that some of the local roads have an open ditch that runs into the water courses and then those feed into the Bay. They don’t have, in every location, a catchment to catch any cans, bottles, papers, debris, ect. Will there be any catchment improvements included in this ditching plan?” said Craigleith-area resident Pamala Spence.
Sampson says these catchment improvements are not included in the town budget and may be a responsibility of the county, but promised to look into the issue further.
Discussion also took place around the town’s plans to resurface the Thornbury pier with concerns around rising water levels and shoreline protection plans.
Mayor Alar Soever also attended the meeting to interact with his constituency. He remains on leave until March 24 after suffering a heart attack and undergoing surgery.
A public information session and meeting regarding the TBM 2020 draft budget will be held on Monday, March 9 beginning at 3:30 PM. Citizens’ Forum meetings are held every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Corner Cafe & Grill in Thornbury.
