For almost 11 hours, Midland councillors slogged through the first of three days of 2024 budget talks, making decisive moves that could save $1.1 million on the capital budget side.
Five motions were approved throughout the day as councillors considered 34 total motions during a very busy day.
Council supported the operating budget for water and wastewater rate increases, set as 5 per cent (water) and 4 per cent (wastewater) increases as they were last year: the monthly fixed fee for water increased to $14.10 and wastewater to $15.76; variable rate per cubic-metre raised to $1.89 for water and $2.10 for wastewater; and the typical user of 170 cubic-metres-per year would see a water increase to $490.52 and wastewater to $546.21 through the approval.
Those increased rates are set to take effect on March 1, with the water rate bylaw to be presented to council for consideration at the upcoming regular council meeting on February 14th.
Since discussions at the previous council meeting, staff had whittled the expected 5.86 per cent blended municipal tax rate increase down to a 5.45 per cent, to a savings of around $156,500 for the tax-supported operating budget.
Engineering manager Mitch Sobil explained that an emergency Colborne St. sanitary trunk main decommissioning for $300,000 was a necessity due to its 1930-built pipes needing to be addressed; a splash pad re-examination was granted for $50,000 (down from $320,000 in 2020) just on a design and consultation, after Gordon proclaimed “sticker shock” on its estimated $1 million price tag.
With a chatty council having accomplished the first agenda items by noon, council set forth for the remaining eight hours to hack and slash on 2024 capital budget items, originally brought forward in the draft as $15.7 million, for what Mayor Bill Gordon would dub “boomerang items” later in the night as removals or deferrals to return to in the 2025 budget.
Coun. Bill Meridis returned with his constant hammering on finance staff to understand whether reserve cancellations could be utilized to offset ratepayers’ taxes, which were countered throughout the meeting by CFO Lindsay Barron until the late hours when he relented as “beating a dead horse” for a topic.
Big-ticket items cut in the $1.1 million savings included: removal of an NSSRC portable generator ($500,000) as a “soft no” according to Gordon who would look to county and other North Simcoe partners to help fund the item for the regional emergency shelter; removal of a street light assessment ($100,000) and beyond end-of-life service truck ($95,000); removal of an emergency services campus feasibility study ($150,000) to wait on amalgamation results with shared-service partner Penetanguishene.
However, council were cautioned about challenging staff-recommended items for safety purposes, when the question to staff of a $150,000 replacement guide rail in Little Lake Park by Coun. Catherine MacDonald resulted in admitting that a non-serious incident occurred over the summer, as Gordon noted that discussion entered the public realm and subjected the municipality to liability if not heeded.
It had also been noted earlier by Fire Chief Richard Renaud that a $75,000 replacement for overhead bay doors at the fire station – a 2021 building condition assessment recommendation postponed to 2025 – suffered a malfunction following servicing last year.
“The door servicing company expressed some serious concerns that (the doors) may fail; they serviced it as they do every year,” said Renaud. “Two weeks later, we had a failure where parts came flying off – luckily nobody was at the hall. They were out on a call and when they came back, they tried opening the door and parts came flying out.
“We can take the gamble and stretch it out; we can’t eliminate it,” Renaud emphasized.
The requirement for building condition assessments was echoed later in the meeting regarding OPP overhead door replacements ($45,000) by planning services manager Steven Farquharson who reinforced: “There’s a reason you bring in these professionals to do these types of assessments (and we follow their guidance).
"That is a prime example as to why their overhead doors would’ve been recommended for replacement two to three years ago – before one of them literally exploded and could’ve potentially killed someone had they been there.”
With council approving the first five motions shy of 8 p.m., – including the 10-year capital plan – the meeting was recessed. Budget discussions continue today with tax-supported operating department budgets under the microscope.
Detailed information, timelines and reports on the 2024 budget can be found on the budget and finance page of the Town of Midland’s website.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, 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.