By John Francis
There’s a word I learned when visiting Venice, the overtourism capital of the world.
The word is “abusivo” (accent on the 3rd syllable). It refers to businesses doing flagrantly illegal things knowing they will get away with them because there is no enforcement.
You hear stories about problem STAs. They sound remarkably like “abusivo”. Renting to more people than the licence allows. Unlicenced fireworks (under our bylaws, it is virtually impossible to get a fireworks licence if you’re staying at an STA, so fireworks are always unlicenced). Unattended or out-of-control bonfires, or bonfires during a fire ban. Loud parties that continue into the wee hours.
And it’s not just STAs — don’t forget the yahoos careening around our villages in the middle of the night with noisy cars or motorcycles.
Why Bother Complaining?
The OPP have a skeleton staff after midnight and may take quite a while to respond to a middle-of-the-night call.
You could call the 24/7 municipal complaint line. They will politely write down your complaint and pass it on to Bylaw Enforcement staff in the morning. But if nobody but you observes the offensive behaviour, then it’s an unverified complaint. So why bother?
This sounds absolutely outrageous (and I guess in a lot of ways it IS absolutely outrageous) but it’s not likely to get fixed anytime soon.
We used to have a summer OPP detachment in Tobermory. That ship sailed about 30 years ago. We used to have a year-round OPP detachment in Lion’s Head. That ship sailed about 25 years ago. We used to have a 24/7 OPP detachment in Wiarton. That ship sailed a couple of years ago. Now the overnight shift operates out of Chatsworth.
Bear in mind that OPP policing is paid out of municipal taxes. MNBP’s annual bill is well over a million dollars. Want more policing than we’re getting? It would go straight onto our taxes.
So what would it cost to have a municipal employee available until 4:00AM, all summer? Why 4:00AM? Because, according to most of the complaints I have heard, a lot of call-outs would occur in the 1:30 to 3:00AM time frame and the person would need to drive to the location, deal with the complaint and drive back to the municipal office before the end of their shift. So 4:00AM.
If we assume that “summer” runs from May to October, that’s around 26 weeks or 182 days. Having a person on duty, with a car and a radio would cost somewhere over $100 per hour. Let’s say $1,000 per night, just to keep the figures round.
So that’s $182,000 per year, just to have somebody available until 4:00AM, six months a year. (Cheap at the price — OPP would cost double that…)
Adding $182,000 to our municipal budget would increase your taxes and mine by about 4%.
Take it out of the Municipal Accommodation Tax we charge on STAs? It would eat the MAT almost entirely. And leave us with nothing else. Nothing towards water or sewers or improvements to tourism…
So don’t hold your breath waiting for all-night Bylaw Enforcement.
Is That a Light I See??
TEASER: A snippet of information was mentioned at a recent council meeting. The Municipal Accommodation Tax is generally 4%, but this is just a convention, not a rule. Lower amounts are also possible as are higher (read MUCH HIGHER!!!) amounts.
We have heard a lot of pushback about Class C STAs. In fact, a large portion of the STA complaints pertain to Class C properties.
How about a 15% MAT for Class C STAs? Kinda like “user pay” for Bylaw Enforcement…
