At regular council recently, Coun. Cher Cunningham put forward a motion regarding the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre (NSSRC) that garnered high praise from other council members and staff alike.
The motion was read as a response to the overwhelming community blow-back when during the 2022 budget process, a 33 per cent user fee increase for sports groups sent residents protesting to council.
A compromise was made to lower the 33 per cent down to a 5.2 per cent current rate of inflation in Ontario, but council made sure to let the townsfolk know that their concerns were heard loud and clear.
At council, Cunningham read her motion.
“That staff analyze how Midland compares in terms of costs and revenue generation per capita from the services and facilities provided by the NSSRC and parks; and that staff work with the community groups that utilize our NSSRC and parks to explore existing and alternative methods of financially supporting the maintenance and operations of those facilities."
Cunningham continued, “That any fee-slash-rate adjustments consider: Wellness needs and benefits, commercial versus personal use, resident versus non-resident participation, and long-term sustainability of the infrastructure; and that staff bring forward any recommendations or adjustments for a staff report to council prior to the next budget deliberations.”
In describing her motion, Cunningham noted that it was edited to remove the need for a dedicated committee, which would produce a less formal scenario with greater public input, better accessibility and smaller get-togethers.
“I think this allows a more well-rounded response to the challenges of maintaining the NSSRC,” Cunningham explained.
Coun. Bill Gordon was the first to praise the motion, describing it as “the missing link” which should have been applied at the onset.
“Going to the stakeholders and having them involved with it rather than having them up in arms when they see it on a budget document, I think is a lesson learned, that we need to do that first: ask first and then decide,” said Gordon, adding that council needed to reexamine how municipal revenues were generated while controlling spending.
Coun. Jonathan Main remarked that it was a great approach requiring a considerable level of analysis.
“We’re taking a look at Milton (which) did a great fees review, but they had an external consultant do that,” said Main. “And basically you look for two factors: How much does it cost to provide the service, and what revenue do you get it in?
“We’ll have the analysis internally, but the external partners – all the different sports groups and all the great volunteer groups and community groups that do so much and mean so much to the community – having them being involved in this is going to be great. Very helpful, because it’s going to be an annual issue if we’re going to be trying to adjust the rates every year,” Main added.
CAO David Denault highlighted the community engagement aspect which had many concerned residents looking deep into the operations factors of the NSSRC, built in 2004 and costing roughly $1 million to operate annually through debt payments and/or the tax levy.
“I think everyone, including the community, has a much better understanding of the costs that are borne by the organization,” stated Denault. “And are those costs reasonable? What do we gain from those costs? And what are we willing to bear… what are we willing to put away for, for the future needs that we know are coming very soon? How are we going to impact user rates and use those to contribute to an even lower tax levy?
“I think we should all feel good about the budget process in that it exposed information that we needed to see and we needed to discuss as a community,” Denault said.
Currently, the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre at 527 Len Self Blvd. is open to the public with recently minimized restrictions as part of Ontario’s next phase of reopening.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
