By John Francis,
Bruce Peninsula Press
Feb 5 Special Budget Meeting
Every winter, municipal councils across Canada spend meeting after meeting going over the year’s budget, line by line.
Are there places we could find more revenue? Are there places where we could reduce our expenditures?
Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula Council held Special Meetings on Feb 5 and Feb 12 to help staff put the finishing touches on MNBP’s 2024 budget.
The Feb 5 Meeting began with a projected mill rate increase of 7.2%. As they went over individual line items, they encountered a series of budget increases — for example, insurance costs have risen dramatically, largely because the municipality revised the valuations of its facilities and now has to pay to insure the added value.
On the subject of increased revenues, MNBP has considered extending the Municipal Accommodation Tax to all accommodators, not just Short-Term Accommodations (aka STAs — residential properties which are rented for periods of less than 30 days).
Councillor Smokey Golden pointed out that it is unfair to extend the MAT to private campgrounds, when their main competition — national park campgrounds — would not charge MAT. She also argued that February is too late to impose a new tax for implementation in 2024. She suggested Council should be considering a 2025 rollout.
Mayor Milt McIver wondered about the existing MAT revenues, charged only on STAs. There were thought to be at least 800 STAs in the municipality — why are there only 400 registered? He noted that there is a perception that many STAs are avoiding the MAT. How is this monitored? he asked.
Committee/Licencing Coordinator Lindsay Forbes explained the process. MNBP’s contractor, Harmari, maps all the listings on the various platforms. A licence number is required for all listings in MNBP; if there is no licence number, the lister can be contacted. Mostly, they comply quickly. Forbes and Bylaw Enforcement regularly monitor and contact listings. There are a lot of new builds that are unaware of the licencing requirement who can then start the licencing process.
Mayor McIver persisted — are we sure we’re getting the majority of the STAs? Yes, replied Forbes; there are many inactive listings. She noted that many municipalities are pushing for provincial regulations governing the STA industry. This would simplify the enforcement process for municipalities.
When the subject of Municipal Reserves came up, Mayor McIver made a plea for a significant contribution to capital reserves. He acknowledged that 2024 is not a good year to add new expenses but pointed out the dangers of falling behind on infrastructure. He suggested Council set a percentage for capital and asked Treasurer Teresa Shearer what a 2-3% capital increase
would mean to the overall tax rate. “We need to see that figure,” he said. “We need to do something for capital reserves, not just this year but next year and following years.”
Council considered and rejected a “compact design” alternative for the Lion’s Head Arena. This proposal would have reduced the cost to $11 million but Council felt it was inadequate. As Councillor Golden put it, “let’s not give a lot of time and energy to this because it’s not what we want for a design.” The rest of Council agreed.
Councillor Aman Sohrab asked when the last assessment was done on the arena building. CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West answered that it was 2006.
Councillor Todd Dowd questioned why the architect hadn’t looked at the limitations of the building and the site. CAO Van Mierlo-West replied that this project had been in the works since 2006; there was an assumption that these had been done. “To apply for this grant, the project should have been shovel-ready; we’re playing catch-up right now.”
The next item on the Agenda was a Municipal Facility Overview report. It provided a high-level thumbnail of the 84 buildings and facilities that MNBP owns and maintains. The CAO suggested that MNBP should undertake a feasibility study on municipal facilities, to know which facilities are likely to need high-cost renovations or replacement.
Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson pointed out that this would need to be comprehensive, which would make it costly. The CAO agreed that it would probably cost over $100,000, but noted that “administrations thrive on having reports to follow”.
Council went into Closed Session to discuss property issues. When they emerged, Mayor McIver made another plea for capital reserves.
Councillor Sohrab agreed with his perspective and pointed out that MNBP is also not spending enough to maintain our roads. The Mayor suggested a 2% increase for capital reserves.
Councillor Golden argued against any reserve contribution — she felt the tax increases were already hefty enough.
The Mayor cited the list of 84 properties the municipality has to maintain; “We need to be putting money aside for them.” If no money is set aside, we’re not really preparing for the future.
Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson suggested splitting the difference — a 1% increase to fund capital reserves. Councillor Golden agreed to support 1%.
The Mayor admitted “at least it’s a start.”
Feb 12 Special Budget Meeting
Council returned to budget deliberations at another Special Meeting on Feb 12, At this point, the proposed mill rate increase had risen to 8.28%.Mayor McIver acknowledged that a 1% increase for capital budget reserves was now included but pointed out that reserves are not where they need to be — hence the 1% — but will need much more than that in the future.
Deputy Mayor Anderson agreed that next year’s budget must begin with an understanding that much larger contributions to capital reserves will be needed.
Council also discussed the two properties on Centennial Drive in Tobermory — the daycare building (former St Edmunds Township Office) and The Meeting Place (former Parks Canada temporary offices).
Councillor Dowd questioned the $140,000 in the budget for the Meeting Place. We need to decide what we are doing with that building before spending that kind of money. Do we need both that building and the daycare building? He didn’t question that the Meeting Place needs repairs; his concern was more with why we need to repair a building that is well beyond its planned useful life when a much more robust building sits empty nearby. $140,000 would go a long way toward fixing the daycare building.
Deputy Mayor Anderson noted that there are also problems with the daycare building — mould and flooding. It is probably not useable right now.
Councillor Golden stepped back a pace, pointing out that if we learned anything from the arena project, it’s that you may not be able to satisfy everyone. She suggested leaving the money in the budget but not moving ahead until there is a clear plan for both buildings.
The Public Works budget was discussed at length. There have been dramatic cost increases for roadbuilding materials over the last four years. Mayor McIver suggested a phased approach — a hefty but not quite adequate increase this year, followed by another hefty increase next year to make up the difference.
The draft budget will be revised according to the directions given by Council and will be presented at a future meeting.
