Mayor Bailey bracing for a tough fiscal year

By Casandra Turnbull

It’s going to be a tough year ahead as council manages a balancing act between fiscally sound decisions and desperately needed services and infrastructure.

Mayor David Bailey hopes council will weather the storms and continue to remain respectful and united as they enter what he says will be a tough fiscal year.

The Official Plan was a big focus of 2023 and Mayor Bailey predicts it will also occupy a lot of discussion in 2024 as council will need to work through the OP again to adjust for decisions made by the province, specifically with respect to, Bill 23 Build More Homes Faster Act. Several new development fee discounts and exemptions are now applicable through the Planning Act and this loss in municipal revenue, some of which was already earmarked through the OP and various Long-Term plans to support community projects, will fall on local taxpayers by way of higher property taxes.

Budget deliberations began on Thursday, and the recommended increase to the average residential tax levy is 10.5%. That figure is not yet approved, but it’s significantly higher than the last few years. In 2023 taxpayers saw a 5.8% increase, and in 2022 it was as low as 1.81%.

It’s not just the downloaded provincial fees the county has to contend with, there’s also a race to keep up with infrastructure concerns and shortfall in community services and programs for the growing population.

Decades worth of decisions are starting to come to head now. Bailey cited Rest Acres Road as a perfect example – construction was approved in 2003 to 2005, and we’re just feeling the effects of those decisions now.

There are also some large scale projects on the horizon that are coming to head during a critical time, namely the $130 million investment the county must contribute towards the renovations/rebuild at the Brantford General Hospital, as well a new Main Branch Library in Paris.

Despite the hurdles ahead, Mayor Bailey does have a few projects he’d like to see move forward this year

“I would like to get some clarity on the Bawcutt Centre/Main Library. Whatever the decision is there, I would like to see it have a plan and a journey this year,” said Bailey, adding the bottom line will come down to money and while ‘the marriage of the Bawcutt Centre and Library makes sense, only so if the county can afford it,’said Bailey.

Continued on page 5