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 percent 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 Dec. 2.
Council had asked staff to bring in a zero percent 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 actually 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 percent hike for 2021, but the Conservation Authorities had modest increases, and South Simcoe Police spending was up 4.6 percent over last year.
Staff worked for months on the document presented on 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, that didn’t look at departmental expenditures, but the cost of services, often involving multiple departments.
This was also the first budget presented by Chief Financial Officer and Director of Corporate Service Mike Melinyshyn, and it was a clear and graphics-filled document that also provided background for residents – like the fact that the municipality receives only 44 cents out of every property tax dollar, for services that include library, fire & rescue, and winter road maintenance.
The county receives 28 cents; policing, 13 cents; and education, 15 cents.
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, delaying purchases, and freezing the town’s Special Capital Levy.
The Special Capital Levy has been increasing by one percent per year, building Reserves for the replacement of major capital 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.
And 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 Building Department, funded by new development.
“Why is it being put for consideration, if it’s not something that would affect the budget directly?” Coun. Ken Fowler wanted to know.
“The challenge we have is the right balance for the Building Reserve Fund,” which has been impacted by a reduction in housing starts, said CAO 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, noting, “Police and fire are the things people are most concerned with.” She suggested extending the contract 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,” she said.
Director of Growth Tim Cane acknowledged that 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,” Cane said.
The reduction in the number of volunteer firefighters by attrition was accepted by councillors after they were assured by Fire Chief Tom Raeburn that 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 for the volunteers was rejected by council.
Coun. Orsatti worried that the town could lose its trained volunteers, if their hours were curtailed by as much as 75 percent through the implementation of platoons.
Chief Raeburn agreed that Caledon had abandoned its platooning pilot project, and that Orillia implemented platooning only for training.
He also acknowledged there could be an impact on the volunteer firefighters, but provided an even better reason for abandoning the proposal: Barrie, which does the dispatching for Innisfil Fire & Rescue, has indicated that it is “not prepared to make this change at this time,” and cannot dispatch platoons.
Mayor Lynn Dollin pointed out that the cost of the volunteer fire service is “so small,” while the volunteers contribute beyond their firefighting duties, helping to build community spirit.
“I worry also about morale,” she said; if their pay is cut to 25 percent, “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 percent), 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 the roads needing it most, despite the cuts in the budget, but questioned the proposed reduction in the gravel budget, for Innisfil’s 67 km. of gravel roads.
Several councillors, including Bill Van Berkel, asked if paving some gravel roads might be a saving – less expensive than sending out the road grader, four or five times a year.
He spoke against cuts to road maintenance. “I don’t think we should be cutting – not 50 percent, anyway,” Van Berkel said.
Coun. Rob Nicol suggested that it’s also a matter of public safety, noting that failure to maintain gravel roads could result in an increase in liability for the town, contributing to more collisions, and slowing the response of emergency vehicles.
He asked for staff solutions, to find a way to fund the full gravel budget without impacting the zero percent increase.
Reynar asked for suggestions from council, on what could be cut to offset the additional cost. “If we could have included it, we would have,” he said.
But Mayor Dollin pointed out that adding the $159,000 back into the budget represented only a potential 0.18 percent increase in the tax rate, and council voted unanimously to “maintain the current service level for gravel road resurfacing.”
A new service, relating to the removal of hazard trees, was also questioned by council.
While acknowledging the importance of being pro-active in the removal of dead trees “for the safety of the community,” councillors asked staff to look for greater efficiencies by combining the $150,000 proposal with the existing Emerald Ash Borer program ($257,500), and partnering with InnPower to come up with a more comprehensive approach.
Coun. Orsatti noted that the cost is not exorbitant, considering the possible liability. “One storm, and there is the liability of trees falling on a home, falling on a street, falling on wires.”
“We will be looking at synergies,” promised Bowman.
There were also questions regarding specific projects, including the Alcona Town Square. Coun. Orsatti noted that some residents have expressed concerns over the expenditure, although funding for the project is not tax-based.
Mayor Dollin agreed. “People are saying, ‘Don’t fix our parks, fix our roads’,” she said. She explained that Development Charges collected for specific purposes must be spent for those projects. “We just can’t move them from one to another.”
There’s another reason for moving forward at this time, suggested Director of Growth Tim Cane: some public infrastructure can provide activities that support mental health and wellness, especially during a pandemic. “Obviously, the Town Square was one of those.”
All of the funding for the Square will come from Development Charges or from the Alternate Revenue Source (ARS) reserve, from the OLG casino. Phase 1 of the Town Square will open by winter of 2021 – but a new hire, for a Town Square Programmer, has been deferred to 2020.
“We’ll redeploy staff as best as we can,” said Engineering Team Leader Jessica Jenkins, “managing with existing staff.”
CAO Reynar noted that the changes proposed by councillors mean that staff will be looking for another $200,000.
“We will continue to squeeze that stone,” he said, but asked council to consider either a 0.18 percent tax increase in 2021, or preapprove the use of the Tax Stabilization Reserve, if extra savings can’t be found. The Reserve currently sits at $4.8 million.
“The Tax Stabilization Reserve is there for just this reason,” said Coun. Nicol. “Let’s utlilize that – get through this pandemic together.”
“The rainy day fund is meant for bad years,” agreed 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 percent increase in 2021, and only a one percent 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 Mayor 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.
The town posted the draft budget on its webpage, along with several budget tools. One, a Budget Allocation Tool, invited residents to try their hand at reallocating the funds available, keeping within the zero percent increase.
There were 572 views of the allocation tool, but “not a lot of submissions,” noted Reynar: only 7.
When hundreds look at a document and only seven respond “it’s because they couldn’t find a way to do it better,” suggested Mayor Dollin.
Council’s approvals and recommendations on Monday mean that there will be no need for a second budget meeting on Dec. 2 – and the final draft, including an operating budget of over $38 million, and a $50.87 million captial budget, should be back for council’s approval on Dec. 9.
To view the draft budget, click here.
