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Growth drives up costs, service partners tell Barrie

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In Agencies
Jan 16th, 2014
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By Laurie Watt Barrie Advance

Barrie taxpayers are being asked for more and more money for an array of services, such as police, library, long-term care and environmental protection, when service providers made their pitches to council Monday.

Simcoe County kept its request to the city’s two-per-cent cap, while the Barrie Police Service projects a 2.7-per-cent rise in costs. That, however, is a fraction of the library’s 6.45-per-cent grant hike request and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority’s 24-per-cent hike.

The library and the conservation authority blamed growth, coupled with years of restraint, for their need to right-size their levies, while the police attribute their cost to rising salaries and benefits.

The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority presented a base budget that rises 2.4 per cent, but quickly followed that with a wish list that drives up costs almost 24 per cent more over last year, to cover projects including a $75,795 Barrie creeks cleanup.

Last year, the authority had a budget of just under $1.15 million, but that’s projected to rise to $1.46 million, although its administrative expenses are forecast to rise only 2.4 per cent.

“I can understand a 25-per-cent increase is significant and you have been generous over the past several years,” LSRCA CAO Gayle Wood told council. “Perhaps we should have come back with larger increases over the past decade. I’m telling you we’re at the tipping point trying to keep up with growth. We understand the answer ‘no.’ We were told by other municipalities it’s not a good time to ask. In my experience, it’s never a good time to ask.”

It was a similar tale for the Barrie Public Library.

Library board vice-chairperson Ray Duhamel said the library needs a 6.45-per-cent hike in its grant, as its budget rises to $7.4 million and its reserves are drained.

“We’re looking for an increase from $5.8 million to $6.2 million (from city taxes), and in 2015, to $6.6 million,” said Duhamel, who noted other income sources include development charges, an unchanging $107,501 provincial grant, fines and its own fundraising.

Duhamel said the library’s budget rose only 1.3 per cent over last year’s, but because of depleted reserves, the library needs to get its municipal grant up to a more sustainable level.

“There’s nothing left to trim in the library system. Any reduction (of the city’s grant) will result in layoffs or closure certain days and declines in programs,” he said.

“We’re operating the downtown branch out of an aging building that requires increasing repairs.”

Simcoe County asked for $22.16 million from Barrie, for an array of services that includes land ambulance, long-term care, social housing and Ontario Works. That figure is two per cent more than last year’s $21.675 million.

The police put a 2.7-per-cent cap on spending as the force focuses on shift changes to ensure more officers are on patrol during the late afternoon and evening.

“It’s a tight budget, but it’s one that can be met,” said Chief Kimberley Greenwood. “The service is not asking for an increase in our staff complement. We will be deferring hiring. We have to re-evaluate how we were allocating our resources.”

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