As Centre Wellington moves towards its 2017 budget, it held an open town hall session to get input from its residents.
Mayor Kelly Linton stated the focus of the Nov. 2 town hall meeting was the 2017 budget and to give residents the opportunity to ask questions.
Roughly three to four dozen people attended the meeting including councillors, senior staff and residents.
Numerous display boards throughout the hall detailed spending for various township services.
Linton clarified that while the meeting related to 2017 spending, the numbers presented were from 2016 – “because council had yet to approve the 2017 budget.”
Linton asked, “When was the last time you handed over $3,500 without questioning where that money was going to be spent?”
He added “so many times we tend to do that with our government and we don’t question how it is spent.
“Every time you visit the arena or pool, spend time at the park, have your streets plowed, or our firefighters respond to an emergency call, you are witnessing your tax dollars at work.
“Sometimes I think we forget how much the township and the county does … because we are so used to it.”
He noted that in 2016, the township passed a strategic plan which included developing methods to engage citizens further in the budget, spending and program decisions.
That, he said, is part of the reason behind the town hall meetings and online surveys.
“We want to work hard to give people new opportunities to have input on how we spent tax dollars. I’m always open to new ways of engaging citizens and getting input. At the end of the day, these are your tax dollars … we don’t want to go down the path where our priorities and the community priorities diverge,” he said.
Opportunities for input
Linton stressed all the capital budget council meetings Nov. 7, 21, 23, and 28 are open or can be watched via live streaming.
In addition, the township offers Citizen Budget, an online survey at www.centrewellington.ca/budget.
The deadline for the online segment is Nov. 13.
Results of the survey will be presented to council in January.
He explained the five priorities council is considering include: reliable infrastructure, healthy growth, economic prosperity, pride of place and good government.
“We want to ensure Centre Wellington is not only a great place to live, but a great place to work,” Linton said.
Where do your taxes go?
Linton stated that when people pay a tax bill, they tend to assume all of the money is going to Centre Wellington.
“In actual fact, we flow the majority of money on to different levels of government,” he said.
On a home assessed at $331,205, the base taxes are $3,779.95. The base taxes are divided between:
– County of Wellington, $2,142.31 (56.7%);
– Centre Wellington, $1,009.65 (26.7%); and
– education taxes, $627.99 (16.6%).
“Only about a quarter of the tax dollars stay with the township,” he said.
As Linton provided a chart on how the township allocates tax dollars, he noted the largest percentages go to roads, 36%; general government, 21%; parks and recreation, 20% and fire services, 12%.
Volunteers help keep taxes lower
Linton said one of the biggest pleasant surprises for him is the impact of local volunteers.
“It’s incredible to me how many hours volunteers spend doing what they do, just because they love this community. We really wouldn’t recognize this community if it wasn’t for all the volunteer groups.”
Examples include the Fergus Grand Theatre owned by the township, he said.
Linton said in 2016 there were 2,500 volunteer hours.
If valued at $15/hr he said it would provide the township with an equivalent saving of $37,500.
At the Victoria Park Seniors Centre those numbers are higher with 7,900 volunteer hours with an equivalent value of nearly $120,000.
He added, “And many more … horticultural societies, service clubs, community and neighbourhood groups, arts and culture groups, Sports teams, etc.”
He contended it would cost the township exponentially more to provide those same services without the help of volunteers.
Linton subsequently offered a listing of various services and costs per citizen based on a population of 29,000 – not the number of households.
Mayor and council
The cost of council to the township is $203,132; $7 per citizen. Linton said the role of council includes:
– representing the public and considering the well-being of the community;
– developing and evaluating the policies and programs of the township;
– determining which services the township provides; and
– maintaining the township’s the financial integrity.
Building department
The cost of the building department to township is $0; cost to citizen, $0. The mayor explained the cost to operate the building department is paid through permit fees – not tax dollars. He noted this is a revenue generator for the municipality – in particular because of the recent amount of building activity.
Other services
Some of the other services cited by the mayor included:
– planning, $467,579; per citizen, $16.12;
– finance, $788,821; per citizen, $27.20;
– information technology, $837,441; per citizen, $28.88;
– economic development, $209,526; per citizen, $7.23;
– Heritage Centre Wellington, $16,250; per citizen, $0.56;
– fire department, $1,191,170; per citizen, $41.07;
– tourism and culture, $258,075; per citizen, $8.90; and
– roads and sidewalk maintenance, $1,735,200; per citizen, $59.83.
Questions from those attending started off with requests on how many staff worked providing various services.
The mayor clarified that the costs for each department of service were not only wages, but additional costs in order to provide a particular service.
Resident Staci Barron first asked about using potential surpluses in the building department.
Planner Brett Salmon pointed out surpluses in the building department cannot be used in another department – it must go into a building department reserve.
“So we can’t use this as a cash cow,” Linton said.
Salmon stated, “the reserve is there to deal with costs during the peaks and valleys of the economy” in relation to operating the building department.
He also stated that even though the department currently has $400,000 in reserve the department operated in a negative capacity while the economy was in a downturn.
Others contended with the projected doubling of the population in the next 20 years, the department surplus would continue to grow.
Councillor Mary Lloyd explained that as the community grows, so does the workload of the department.
“We are legislated to conduct visits and inspections within a particular timeframe,” she said.
Township CAO Andy Goldie noted the township is only allowed to increase reserves to a certain level before it would be required to re-evaluate and possibly of reducing permit fees.
Linton also noted that the township is at the size where it needs to further look into bylaw enforcement and property standards.
“As compared to other municipalities our size … we are really light on staffing to deal with this. As we get bigger … council will need to seriously think about how to deal with resident expectations and the needs of our community,” he said.
Resident Staci Barron asked if there was any ‘wiggle room’ to negotiate the amount of tax money paid to the county.
She suggested “when all the expensive libraries are paid for … will we see a bit of a break?”
Wellington County councillor Rob Black commented the per cent paid to the county changes each year based upon its budget and responsibilities.
Linton clarified the amount is not a negotiated number.
He explained each level of government does its own budget – “there is no negotiation on the percentage.”
