GUELPH – Ambulance stations were a hot topic of discussion at a special council meeting on Jan. 6 to present the county’s draft 2025 budget and 10-year plan.
That plan, county treasurer Ken DeHart told council, projects $84 million in new debt to be issued over the next 10 years, with $18.8 million of that being tax-supported debt.
The remainder will be supported by growth.
But all of that debt, whether growth- or tax-supported is related to either roads or ambulance service, DeHart said.
“The entire amount of the county’s debt is related to those two services,” he said.
According to his presentation, land ambulance will account for $14.4 million of the tax-supported debt.
That amount includes costs to renovate the ambulance station on Elmira Road in Guelph in 2026, and new ambulance stations in Erin and Mount Forest, proposed for 2027-28 and 2033-34 respectively.
The remaining $4.4 million in tax-supported debt will go toward a new roads garage for Erin in 2025-26.
Growth-related debt in the amount of $12.6 million is also in the plan for new ambulance stations in Erin (2027-28), Guelph/Eramosa (2029-30), Harriston (2031-32) and Mount Forest (2033-34).
DeHart explained that while the county’s portion of the ambulance station costs would be 40 per cent, the county is proposing to pay the up-front costs of building new stations.
The City of Guelph, which is responsible for providing ambulance service, would then lease the stations from the county, contributing its 60% share of the costs through a long-term lease agreement.
DeHart referenced a study provided by the City of Guelph to explain why new stations are needed.
“They’re saying that our existing stations are at capacity, and they’re saying that they can’t add the ambulance staff and the ambulances in the current state that they’re in,” he said.
The timeline for station improvements is focused on meeting service expectations and response times, he added.
Answering a question from councillor Gregg Davidson about why the county would opt to provide up-front costs for the builds, DeHart said.
“We’re hoping to capture some provincial contribution to the lease payment.”
How much the province might pay is not yet known, he said.
In response to a question from councillor Campbell Cork, DeHart confirmed the city is responsible for providing ambulance service, as well as potentially building any new stations required.
“Our plan to build the stations is a voluntary act,” said DeHart.
Cork expressed concern there is no guarantee from the province that it will continue to make lease payments.
“We know the province changes its mind on things all the time,” he said.
DeHart said the county would ensure it had an agreement with the City of Guelph to cover its 60% share, regardless of provincial funding.
“The benefit to the county is we’re ultimately going to end up owning these assets and having control over them,” DeHart said.
“If there’s cost changes or service delivery changes, we would be in a better position to adapt.”
Regardless of who builds the stations, the county’s share is 40% of the costs, so the plan for the county to do the work is actually a “good deal” for the county, DeHart said.
“In this scenario, we pay 40% of the cost and we end up owning the asset,” he said.
He called money that may potentially be contributed by the province “bonus money,” that “could potentially reduce our costs from 40% to all the way down to 20%.”
Councillor Matthew Bulmer spoke up to clarify the alternative scenario would see the city build the stations and the county fronting 40% of the costs with no potential for provincial funding and no assets gained.
But councillor Michael Dehn pointed out there are more than two options.
“There’s a third scenario that the lower-tier can build the asset,” he said.
Councillor Duncan raised the issue of a proposed one-time transfer to reserves of $2 million, which had been mentioned earlier in the meeting.
The funds are to go toward land acquisition for ambulance stations, and the reserve transfer is the suggested purpose of approximately $2 million in one-time financial relief from the province related to an increase to the OPP contract cost as a result of unexpected salary increases.
Duncan called it “prudent” to allocate the $2 million toward ambulance-related costs.
Councillor Earl Campbell agreed.
“The $2 million has to stay in, in my opinion, because there’s a lot of unanswered questions about this ambulance program,” he said.
“I think that place holder, for lack of a better term, needs to stay in place, so that we can have those discussions when we move forward.”
DeHart went on to finish the portion of his presentation dealing with the county’s debt, but the ambulance station issue was raised again later in the meeting during the capital budget discussion.
The 10-year plan includes the above-mentioned $2 million for property acquisition in 2025, as well as:
- $8.1 million for the Erin ambulance station in 2027-28;
- $11.4 million for the Guelph/Eramosa station in 2029-30;
- $8.9 million for Harriston in 2031-32; and
- $10 million for Mount Forest in 2033-34.
The projects will be funded through a mix of reserves, development charges and debt.
Dehn questioned why the buildings are so expensive, but the answer was not very satisfying.
“I don’t have a great appreciation for what the cost is made up of,” said DeHart.
Councillors also asked questions about the amortization period for the project, and raised concerns about the increased lease costs, and about whether the city would agree to pay the increased costs.
“We won’t move forward with building these ambulance stations if the city doesn’t agree to pay the cost,” said DeHart.
Councillor Andy Lennox asked for a separate report on the issue, because it “is outside of what we normally do.
The request was repeated by Campbell, who asked for a thorough cost-benefit analysis of the different scenarios.
