This is a guest post on Listen Up! by Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock.
I would like to thank Hugh Mackenzie for providing an opportunity to comment on the Town’s recently approved 2024 Budget.
As your mayor, it has been my privilege and honour to advocate for the well-being and continued progress of our much-loved town. The proposed tax increase in this budget is essential to meet the ever-growing needs of our community.
I am confident in the budget we have adopted because it means we can continue to bring quality services to our community and maintain the existing service levels our residents and visitors know and love.
Municipalities have not been immune to the current economic environment of high inflation and an increase in the cost of goods and services. In addition, the budget was also impacted by population growth and an increase in users accessing our services.
Balanced Growth:
During our recent Strategic Plan public engagement, our community reinforced its desire to ensure we are well-positioned to grow our community, by balancing the health and well-being of our residents, with future growth… and we have seen unprecedented growth.
Our population grew 11% from 2014-2021, and as we have grown, so have the demands placed on essential services, public safety requirements, and community well-being.
Council recognizes this growth needs to be supported more effectively to continue to service the community. It has become imperative to invest in staffing for our public services. Investing in people is investing in our community, and supporting a strong organization that can now respond to our significant recent and future growth. This means we are prepared for enhancing public safety, cyber security, emergency preparedness, handling increases in planning demands, community services, and the impacts this growth has had on our roads, sidewalks, and within the operations division.
Another area that is integral to the Town is ensuring that we set aside local share contributions of $230,000 to support the redevelopment of our hospital and capital funding toward the replacement and rehabilitation of our existing Town facilities, (which was provincially legislated in 2015). These factors are new to Town long-term fiscal planning and have greatly impacted the 2024 budget.
While we have been contributing substantially to capital reserves since 2015 to handle large-scale projects, culminating in approximately $7 million in this year’s budget, we are also paying down debt accrued through past investments.
While I love our cherished community assets like the Canada Summit Centre, Algonquin Theatre, Conroy Park, and McCulley Robertson Sports Park, we continue to pay down the debt incurred to build these incredible facilities built by previous Councils. The repayment of this debt has been ongoing for some time, however, the 2024 budget reflects over $800,000 of debt repayment.
Council’s long-term capital planning now will reduce our reliance on borrowing and the impacts that debt repayment has on the levy.
Economic Environment:
In this current climate, the town has not been immune to cost escalation …. materials have risen dramatically, for example, the cost of road building and line painting materials has risen 44-65% from 2021 – 2023.
– For example, the price of high float in 2022 was $94K per KM, in 2023 the price has jumped to $117K
– Asphalt in 2022 was $114K, and in 2023 was $159k per km
– The annual line painting contract in 2022 was $32K and in 2023 was $46K and this was after several components were removed from the contract to bring down the price
While the approved budget increase is 10.68%, when the estimated District of Muskoka and School Board tax rates are factored in, the total projected property tax bill increase is 6.64%.
The proposed tax rate will result in an increase of approximately $137 per $300,000 of property assessment on the Town share of the Huntsville property tax bill.
Regional Lens:
Finally, the tax rate proposed in this budget will maintain Huntsville’s position as the lowest projected municipal tax rate of the Towns in the Muskoka region. Our proposed tax rate continues to keep Huntsville as one of the most competitive municipal tax rates in the province for a town of our size.
I believe this budget has made some bold moves keeping in mind the long-term fiscal health of the Town and the implications of the anticipated growth in the coming years.
Huntsville’s General Committee approved the draft budget at its January 11 meeting. The budget will go to the Huntsville Council’s regular meeting on January 29 for ratification.
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Brian Thompson says
Mayor Alcock:
Thanks for your comments regarding the Town budget. As you know I was involved in wrestling with Town and District budgets for 22 years and I don’t ever remember one time when it was an easy process. For my part I feel you and council along with staff have done an awesome job given the economic conditions faced when grappling with the budgeting process.
The growth in population, the expansion of required infrastructure to accommodate all the new builds must be an ongoing challenge. Keeping up the level of service and capital expenditures expected by citizens is a challenge and I feel you’ve met that challenge.
You have my thanks…
John Beckman says
With all due respect Miss Alcock is attempting to excuse an extreme failure on her part and those in the town bureaucracy.
The taxes that pay the wages of those that control the purse strings are supposed to be insurance against exactly this type of scenario.
In any private or publicly traded company either a resignation or firing of executives and senior management would be the result of this level of mismanagement.
Excuses aside Alcock has set an extremely dangerous precedent. There is nothing stopping this council from following this budget with more wreckless management and debt.
An independent audit should be called to see where cuts should actually be made.
Harold Reid says
I agree with John. The senior so-called executives are the problem.
Ed gruscyk says
How are people supposed to afford such a massive tax increase? Wages have generally not kept up with inflation..
David Wexler says
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mayor. You’ve done a good job of explaining factors driving higher costs for Huntsville but have not at all shared what difficult decisions the Town’s leaders made to minimize the impact of cost increases on taxpayers.
Budgeting starts with setting a goal…i.e., “Huntsville’s tax increases will be no higher than the average of those being put forward by nearby municipalities” (such as Orillia, Gravenhurst, and Bracebridge).
Without a goal, there are no measures by which you can judge your performance and I think that in this instance, the budget increase of almost 11% does not look like success to me.
Respectfully,
David
Paulette Davis says
Maybe the tax hike should be aimed on a higher priced property and save the senior home owners who cannot afford this high tax raise, with the current inflation.
Hugh Holland says
Like Toronto, we do have a choice. We can be shortsighted and let our cities and towns go downhill like so many in the USA that are half boarded up and riddled with crime, or we can invest in keeping them alive and healthy. Yes, many are feeling the pinch right now due to a complex combination of unpredictable international factors like wars and climate change. But most are still able to buy a new car (its hard to find an old car or old truck on the street), pay $500 to see Taylor Swift or a Leaf game, buy an I-phone 15 for every kid, travel, and go out to eat. It won’t hurt most of us to tighten the belt a wee bit to ensure our kids and grandkids have a good place to live, as our forefathers did for us. Toronto and Huntsville councils have both made the right choice.
Allen Markle says
Are we to understand then, that with each subsequent increase in the population of this community, the tax rate is bound to rise also? Didn’t think that was the way an expanding tax base worked. Since most of the expansion has resulted in the destruction of land near the town center, the contractors should have supplied infrastructure (roads, sidewalks(?), hydro, gas, sewers and the like) up to town standards.
It follows that we now have 50 taxable sites per kilometer (just a number, likely more) rather than 8 or 10 per kilometer (just a number). I would have thought the concentration would have assisted rather than stressed the tax base.
The mayor herself has pointed out that these stresses to the budget have existed for several years already; 2014 for relentless growth, 2015 for replacement/rehab of existing town properties (there goes the train station). The debt for the Summit Center (that threat again?), Conroy Park, our Algonquin Theater, all those existed before 2024, so what’s new?
I concede that there may have been some extenuating circumstances this year. We have all had to acknowledge and face them. However I feel that our council and staff have been hanging out too close to the edge for a while. This year they lunged over it. You can only deal with so much unfunded expenditure. Ask any banker or financial advisor. Possibly with the exception of those advising our council.
Hopefully this year will be a ‘one of’ year. And I don’t mean ‘one of many’! I won’t say “Good luck”. I’d prefer an exhibition of talent and dexterity and skill. I’m sure there is some there. Someone? Somewhere?
Lord knows we’re paying for it!
Shirley Campbell says
Dear Mayor Alcock, Thank you for trying to explain this terrible budget. You mention a lot about growth. I wonder what percentage of residents want growth. I suspect most people live here to be in a small town. Balance the budget.
Paul Johnston says
I appreciate Mayor Alcock communicating her thoughts as to the 2024 budget, but I share others’ concerns as to the dirction this council is taking us. To me there are two issues. th There appears to be a total lack of planning and with the approval of reekless developments that are destroying the cultural fabric of Huntsville. The second issue is miss-management of our financial and econmenic positioning. Do not forget this is the council that wanted to spend $70,000 painting crosswalks that supported councils political motivations only. This Town is in real trouble and voters cannot stand by and let this horrible leadership continue.
Kathryn Henderson says
I agree with John. Wages dont go up and people are taxed so much we cant afford to stay in muskoka. It seems you have to be a millionaire to live in Huntsville. Try cutting some things out like we the people have to do to mert our budget. I would like to make councils wages then i might be able to stay in Huntsville. And building permits are the slowest to get approval. Two years for some. Ridiculous. Work for the people not working to impress our visitors.
BJ BOLTAUZER says
I must echo the excellent comment penned by Shirley Campbell.
For whose benefit will the current tax-payers pay the increased tax? For whose benefit does the council promote this exponential growth? Who exactly benefits from the growth?
Are the current inhabitants going to be taxed to foot the costs of the necessary modernization and expansion of the infrastructure only to accommodate the appetite of the developers from the GTA and lately even from Calgary?
Bill Spring says
The only way I can see an increase in affordable housing is through subsidies that are covered by taxes.
To counteract a tax increase by cutting other programs, may be disadvantaging those who need the affordable housing.
Ruby Truax says
In response to Hugh Holland’s comment (above), it’s this type of out-of-touch thinking that I fear has infected Council as well.
Contrary to what you think, Mr. Holland, most of us can NOT afford to “pay $500 to see Taylor Swift or a Leafs game or buy an I-phone 15 for every kid”. Your remarks are reminiscent of Chrystia Freeland’s attempt to relate to ordinary Canadians by suggesting we just cancel our Disney Plus subscriptions to mitigate our cost of living struggles.
Perhaps we need more folks on Council who peruse the grocery store flyers and base their weekly meal plan on what’s on sale. More Councilors who do their laundry during off-peak hours or bring their own lunch to work to save those few dollars each week. Those folks would understand the impact this increase will have.
D. Don Keedic says
Wow! The amount of expertise in this thread is amazing. Except Brian Thompson (your service), none of us, myself included, have had the gonads to put our names forward to run for council and bring this level of expertise around taxes, municipal governance to the table. Could one imagine the progress we could have in this town if one of these well typed experts stood for town council?
Don’t get me wrong, there are issues at stake here. Keyboard heroes are not the answer unless they are willing to put their names on the ballot, names forward for a committee or show up in council to publically state their concerns.
I will stand side by side with anyone who wants to voice their concerns in the public forum.
Dr. D
Em Arde says
According to a quick Google search, the median Huntsville house sale list price was about $650,000 in December 2023. So at an estimated $137 per $300K of house value, the median Huntsville property tax increase amounts to just under $300 for the year … or under $25 per month … or less than $1 a day.
Surely it can’t be that hard for most households to reduce expenses by just a buck a day. Maybe you can skip that Tim’s coffee on the way to work. Or maybe pick up one less bottle of booze or case of beer each month. Do you really need Netflix and Crave and Apple TV and Prime and Disney? Try cancelling a couple of those streaming services and maybe read a few more library books this year instead.
My household is one of those that checks the flyers for sales before making a grocery run, and we do our laundry during off-peak electricity hours. But still, I think we can find a buck a day to set aside for this tax increase.
Allen Markle says
Em Arde: Good for you! Yes my wife is cautious with her purchasing. For sure it’s why I’m not encouraged to visit grocery stores. If I go after I’ve eaten, I need little or nothing. Send me before I’ve eaten, and I need everything! Unlike some though, we seem to have the money.
Hugh Holland: I agree up to a point; some do seem to find the money for things we want, maybe at the expense of what we need. Although my truck is 13 years old. Want or need (a new one at +45 grand???). That only works for those of us who can find the money.
And that is more my beef with both our town and district councils. They seem to figure that we can just suck it up. Tighten that belt. Go without. Shop frugally, That they will just tap the citizens for more money because they can. When they want something.
They seem to think ……..like you do.
Stephen Adams says
These municipalities are swimming in tax dollars. Look at how much is charged for all the multimillion properties here and everywhere else in Muskoka. Maybe of they prioritized not painting a rainbow on every crosswalk there would be more money for important things.
George Hines says
Tax Increase vs Budget Imcrease
I just wish the Town could tell us what the property tax increase will be
They have issued several conflicting property tax rate increase ranging from 6.64 % to 0% when they say the overall amount of property tax for 2024 will be $2,850 for an assessment of 300,000$.
Budgets need and can increase without unreasonable tax hikes.
The Town just needs to get the facts straight instead of leaving us all confused and upset.
David Gordon says
I worked for a large company for 40 years and I managed a department with a multi million dollar budget. When we had a bad year we had to find line by line savings. Often salary increases were severely limited. The low hanging fruit was usually no travel, no conferences, no business meals, no liquor reimbursement ever to name a few. We were instructed to have a budget target that had a zero increase. Hiring restrictions were in place. We had to do more for less. We just had to do it and guess what we did! I’m left wondering if the town even contemplated the things mentioned here. Just asking.
PJ Peterson says
Hello everyone, I was hoping that the Doppler would cover the Deputation to the Council at the beginning of General Council Meeting on Jan 29 with respect to this disrespectful increase. I expect people might be interested in knowing a large group of local residents have launched an effort to stop this Tax increase. We have a petition and there were 80 people at the meeting with a Deputation . We asked for a zero percent increase and gave them the lawful grounds to do so. The people of Huntsville across all ages and stages agree, and if you agree join us and write to [email protected] and politely let the Mayor know. Together, we are saying NO. Doppler , please share this local news. I know what will happen if we do not stop these increases. It does not matter if they passes it at the meeting , we will not be ignored.
We do not have the money to give them this year. sorry. Please speak up for the people struggling to feed their families
We say NO…
This town has not recovered from the unlawful lockdowns…
PJ Peterson says
The town of Huntsville had 14 people on the Sunshine List
Erin Jones says
Wow, Pj! I just checked the Sunshine List. I think we know where a LOT of the increased taxes will be going. Can anyone tell us why we went from just 6 people on the Sunshine list in 2017 to 14 in 2022 (the last year data was available)? Whopping big salary increases it seems, as well.