Innisfil council began Day 1 of its 2021 budget deliberations on Monday morning and wrapped up nearly seven hours later, laying the groundwork for what Mayor Lynn Dollin called the town’s first-ever zero per cent increase in the blended property tax.
With everything dealt with, there was no need for a second day of talks, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.
Council had asked staff to bring in a zero per cent increase in recognition of the financial hardship faced by residents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It meant that the town had to find savings and reduce its levy to less than zero to offset any increases in county, education, conservation authority, and police levies.
Simcoe County also approved a zero per cent hike for 2021, but the conservation authorities had modest increases. South Simcoe Police Service spending was up 4.6 per cent over last year.
Town staff worked for months on the document presented Monday, paring down requests and deferring or eliminating expenditures.
It was a service-based, “cross-functional” approach to the budget, noted chief administrative officer Jason Reynar, and one that didn’t look at departmental expenditures but rather the cost of services, often involving multiple departments.
This was also the first budget presented by chief financial officer and director of corporate services Mike Melinyshyn.
The municipality receives 44 cents out of every property tax dollar for services that include library, fire department, and winter road maintenance. The county receives 28 cents, while 13 cents goes to policing and 15 cents goes to education.
Some rising costs were offset by Innisfil’s growth, adding new tax assessment as homes are built. But other savings were achieved by freezing non-union salaries and the town's special capital levy as well as delaying some purchases.
The special capital levy has been increasing by one per cent per year, building reserves for the replacement of major assets.
Due to COVID-19, council voted to leave the special capital levy at its 2019 level for the next two years.
There were also a number of proposed service level changes, and it was those changes that were the focus of most of Monday’s debate.
Innisfil Fire & Rescue was targeted for proposed cuts. A reduction of 15 volunteer firefighter positions by attrition would cut $109,000 from the budget and a proposal for the platooning of the volunteers at Station 4 in Cookstown would save another $36,450, staff suggested.
Although the department had asked that a fire inspections officer, currently a contract position, transition to a full-time position in 2021, council was asked to consider eliminating the job.
The contract position is part of a three-year pilot, ending in April 2021. The inspector, hired to focus on new construction, is not paid through taxes but through the town's building department and funded by new development.
Coun. Ken Fowler asked: “Why is it being put for consideration if it’s not something that would affect the budget directly?”
“The challenge we have is the right balance for the building reserve fund,” which has been impacted by a reduction in housing projects, said Reynar. “If the drain on that reserve becomes too high, it is open to appeal” by developers.
However, Coun. Donna Orsatti called it a safety issue.
“Police and fire are the things people are most concerned with,” she said, suggesting the contract should be extended to the end of 2021 and then considering converting the position to full-time in 2022, in the next budget cycle. “I feel this is essential."
Director of growth Tim Cane acknowledged there is sufficient money in building department reserves to extend the contract through 2021, while ongoing studies look at ways to deliver services and improve community safety.
“While that takes place, it is possible to maintain that contract position,” he said.
The reduction in the number of volunteer firefighters by attrition was accepted by councillors after they were assured by Fire Chief Tom Raeburn there would be no impact on service levels.
A full volunteer complement is 99 firefighters. Currently, the town has 89 volunteers and “we haven’t seen a decline in response or effectiveness,” Raeburn said. A further reduction to 84 volunteers through attrition should have no impact.
However, the idea of platooning the volunteers was rejected by council.
Orsatti was worried the town could lose its trained volunteers if their hours were curtailed by as much as 75 per cent through platooning.
Raeburn acknowledged there could be an impact on volunteer firefighters, but provided an even better reason for abandoning the proposal. Barrie, which handles dispatching for Innisfil Fire & Rescue, has indicated that it is “not prepared to make this change at this time” and cannot dispatch platoons, the chief said.
Mayor Lynn Dollin pointed out the cost of the volunteer fire service is “so small” while the volunteers contribute beyond their firefighting duties by helping to build community spirit.
“I worry also about morale,” she said.
If their pay is cut to 25 per cent, the mayor asked “is it going to be worth it for them?”
Council unanimously voted to remove all reference to platooning from the budget.
There were also proposed cuts to road maintenance budgets – slashing the budget for slurry sealing by $177,500 (50 per cent), and cutting $159,000 from gravel resurfacing.
Interim director of operations Nicole Bowman explained that the slurry coat is used to seal cracks in roads, preventing water penetration and extending road lifespan by five to 10 years.
Council accepted assurances that staff will prioritize the application of the slurry seal to roads needing it most, despite the cuts in the budget, but questioned the proposed reduction in the gravel budget for Innisfil’s 67 kilometres of gravel roads.
There were also questions regarding specific projects, including the Alcona Town Square.
Orsatti noted some residents have expressed concerns over the expenditure, although funding for the project is not tax-based.
Dollin agreed. “People are saying, ‘Don’t fix our parks, fix our roads’,” she said.
The mayor explained that development charges collected for specific purposes must be spent for those projects.
“We just can’t move them from one to another," Dollin said.
Cane said some public infrastructure can provide activities that support mental health and wellness, especially during a pandemic.
“Obviously, the town square was one of those," he said.
All of the funding for the square will come from development charges or from OLG casino payments.
Phase 1 of the town square will open by winter of 2021.
Reynar noted that the changes proposed by councillors meant staff will be looking for another $200,000 in the budget.
“The rainy day fund is meant for bad years,” said Coun. Alex Waters. “I don’t think there’s been a worse year than this year.”
Council was unanimous in giving staff the go-ahead to use the reserve to ensure that there will be a zero per cent increase in 2021, and a one per cent hike in 2022.
Residents won’t see any increase next year because MPAC has paused its current value reassessment of properties during the pandemic, noted Dollin. MPAC won’t review assessments until 2021 and the new evaluations won’t begin to be phased in until 2022.
That means that an average Innisfil home, assessed at $446,343 in 2020, will have the same value in 2021, and pay the same tax bill: $4,030.88.
Council’s approvals and recommendations on Monday mean the final draft will include an operating budget of around $38 million and a capital budget of almost $51 million capital budget.
The budget is expected to be back for council’s approval on Dec. 9.
To view the draft budget, click here.
