Swamped by a threatened tax increase, Oro-Medonte says no to ‘extras’ from the nature conservation authority

Oro-Medonte residents should brace for a tax increase next year.

Even though the city council has not yet finished the book on next year’s budget, city officials are sounding the alarm and warning residents that costs are rising and there is very little they can do about it.

It’s a common refrain in local congregations.

“We have to be careful now,” Oro-Medonte deputy mayor Peter Lavoie told city council members on Wednesday. “The The province approved a budget increase of 3.625 percent and we are facing an OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) pay increase of $650,000, a tax increase of approximately 3.5 percent.

“This is before we have even thought about the things we would like to do on our own within the township,” he added.

(The province’s budget still needs to be ratified, which could happen on November 26.)

Lavoie also noted that the city may face other costs related to the asset management program. He said the council will have to wait for advice from the council’s chief financial officer to fully understand the implications.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the City Council voted to withdraw from the optional programs offered by the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) during Wednesday’s meeting.

According to a report prepared by Brent Spagnol, director of development services for the municipality, the NVCA made its presentation during the 2024 budget cycle and informed the municipality that the Category 1 services, which are mandatory, would cost the municipality $210,911 in 2024.

The NVCA also pitched its Category 2 and Category 3 services, both of which are optional.

The municipality said it was not interested in category 2 services, but was interested in some category 3 services. The cost for these services in 2024 was set at $24,289.

However, during the budget process, the council raised questions about the costs of these Category 3 services and the potential overlap of services provided by these services NVCA and the Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA).

At that time, the council decided to hold the $24,289 reimbursement in township reserves until staff had an opportunity to hold discussions with the NVCA to clarify details about the overlap of services and a $6,551.63 rebate – instead of a previously agreed discount of approximately $40,000 for these overlapping services.

According to the report, staff had those discussions, but could not estimate how the discount came about due to a number of issues, including the age of the expired agreements.

“Have we ever worked that out numerically for a full understanding?” Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw asked Spagnol.

“Quick answer,” Spagnol said. “Staff was unable to determine a dollar amount based on that overlap.”

According to a Sept. 19, 2024 letter to the council from Doug Hevenor, chief executive of the NVCA, about “the potential duplication” with the SSEA, Hevenor said discussions began in the early 2000s when the council requested expanding the NVCAs. jurisdiction.

On May 7, 2003, Hevenor said, the council passed a resolution that “authorized the council for the expansion by the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority into the remaining 53 percent of the municipality effective September 1, 2003.”

On June 13, 2003, Oro-Medonte advised the SSEA and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority on the expansion of the NVCA.

“Once the motion was approved by all parties, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was drawn up,” Hevenor said. “The most recent MOU was in force from 2011 until the end of 2013, when clause 7 was used by the council to extend the MOU for up to three additional years.

“Therefore, the most recent MOU expired in December 2016,” Hevenor added.

Hevenor said the NVCA continued to offer the levy reduction while the development of a new MOU took place.

“Unfortunately, due to many factors, a new MOU has not been finalized,” he said.

With no MOU in place, no formal commitments made to support Category 3 services, and a significant tax increase on the horizon, the Oro-Medonte council ultimately decided to forego these services.

Lavoie suggested that the NVCA look to the province for the money.

“I don’t disagree at all with the need to protect the environment,” he said. “However, if the issue is as important as highlighted, then I would suggest that the provincial government intervene to expand the NVCA’s mandate to include such matters.

“What you are dealing with here, at this council, is an extremely high tax liability imposed by the provincial government through the OPP and through the asset management program,” Lavoie added. If he values ​​these things as highly as he values ​​the environment, then it’s their chance to speak out.”

The Council voted not to support NVCA’s Category 3 services for the 2024 budget cycle and declined the proposed reduction for Category 3 services.