Springwater Budget – 0 Tax Rate Increase
I just want to make a comment on the flaw in the
Mayor’s recent article where he defended NOT SUPPORTING a 0 tax rate increase
for the 2021 budget year. A majority of Council supported the 0 tax increase
because of these special pandemic times where many are falling behind with the loss
of jobs and income. I again congratulate Councillors Hanna, Ritchie, Moore and
Cabral on their wisdom and sensitivity to what is happening around us. The
Mayor’s logic is common in many of our local municipalities with their simple
argument “everything is going up and we have no choice but to increase taxes or
fall behind with the level of service”. If municipalities were not growing that
would be a legitimate argument. However Springwater and most of the
neighbouring municipalities are growing at about 2 to 5 % which means their
income from new assessments and the increase in existing assessments should
comfortably cover any increases in costs if someone is managing the ship. The
reason is simple, it is called “economies of scale” where you get more or
broader services for the same money. If businesses ran their operations with
the concept of our Mayor, they would quickly become non-competitive and fail in
their business ventures.
COVID-19 -Stay at Home Order
There is no question, this Stay at Home order is more
confusing than the first lockdown especially the absence of the personal bubble
of 10 people which allowed people to retain some sanity. Since I am home a lot
and get to frequently hear the deafening and sudden sounds of gunshots from the
Barrie Gun Club that is less than 600 metres from my property line, I was
curious how they can still be in operation. The fact that the BGC outdoor
ranges shoot to the east, the sound travels easily because of our predominately
westerly winds towards me. In most cases the sound level at my house is well
above safety standards. You should come and listen sometime. Most people when
they visit ask the question, “how is that even permitted?” The answer is
simple. They have more influence than I do with the government. Back to my main point. Think about it, Gun
Ranges are allowed to stay in operation during all phases of COVID-19
restrictions including this lockdown and the orders to not travel unless
necessary. Is the exercising of your trigger finger such an essential service
that gun ranges must stay open and pollute and irritate the neighbours in a
time of tension? What makes it worse is many members travel from outside our
area to inhale and smell vapourized lead as they blow a small clay pigeon to
smithereens. This is an example of why our government’s COVID orders on most
people are falling on deaf ears because of the inconsistent logic of what is
open and what is closed. It appears the BGC is more sacred and more essential
than my opportunity to attend Sunday Mass. How does that make sense?
Springwater Long Range Financial Plan
I have often criticized this Council for fast tracking
the approvals for the mega developments in Midhurst known as the Midhurst
Secondary Plan that would see close to 10,000 homes built over the next 20 or
so years. I advocated that launching the development without an updated Long
Term Financial Plan (LTFP) was careless and foolhardy. I won’t go into the
details, but this week the Council was presented with the LTFP by Watson and
Associates and the future as a Springwater Taxpayer is bleak. Read it for
yourself but the reality is that there will be many increased costs in new
infrastructure and operating. The Midhurst Secondary Plan accounts for 75% of
all developments and over the next 20 years will create the pressure, yet will
contribute less than its fair share or effectively about 30% less per unit than
other developments that will occur over the same timeframe. The Township with
its other 25% of development which was well planned with smaller less intrusive
developments would result in lower tax increases and debt in the longer term. I
will repeat, “building a new City the size of Orillia in farmers fields is a
greatly flawed concept” Unfortunately you and I as the taxpayer will all be
paying for it.
