Springwater council: No vision, No real plan, increased taxes

By Bill French Springwater News January 3 2013

We have now completed two years of the four year term for Springwater Council. Has the change in most of the council members meant any real change? Unfortunately for the most part we are on the same track as we have been for the last number of years with the previous councils. 

Some people have said to me that we are actually in a worse state than before. I don’t agree with that statement, but the major problem which has been the issue for many years is that there is no vision of where the Township of Springwater is headed or should be. The Strategic Plan that the council developed is a shelf decoration with honorable mention in each of the staff reports that council receives. It lacks true goals, objectives, strategies and action plans like most strategic plans. 

When it comes to budgets and cost control at the township, the creative approach to employee increases in the first year of the current council term has now reverted to the standard flat rate COLA type increases instead of placing it where it makes a difference in people’s lives. The rank and file staff I have met over the years are quite good and committed to their jobs and to me are more deserving of higher percentage increases then those bureaucrats in the $100,000 salary ranges. Very few people I know are getting automatic wage increases. The attitude seems to be that everything goes up in price and that is the way it is. Most businesses I speak to have reduced costs and are more productive with more value being created for each dollar spent. Not so with our township operation. There has also been a lot less discussion when it comes to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on new equipment. No real attempt has been made to reduce the cost of operating the township without reducing services. 

I fully accept that we have a huge infrastructure deficit with some crumbling roads and bridges because of poor governance in the past but is taking on 2 to 3 million dollars of additional debt per year for the next 5 years really a solution? In 2013, 10% of your tax dollars will go to debt servicing, not delivering services, up from 5 per cent when the current council took office. By the end of the term it will be about 15% of your tax dollar with no end in sight. I am not convinced that we have the best process for obtaining the lowest cost or choosing the right projects for some of our road construction activity or our other capital equipment expenditures.

I question some of the construction projects in the $20,000 to $30,000 range and these add up. On Grenfel Road for example we have two steep dangerous hills just south of Sunnidale Road that have ravines about 30 feet deep with large trees at the bottom. A number of vehicles have gone into the ravines over the years and fortunately no one has been killed. There are no guardrails. However in the wisdom of public works and council’s approval we now have shiny new guardrails near CR90 on both sides to protect vehicles from sliding into a 2 foot deep stream.

Ironically the same type of bridge and watercourse less than 200 metres away on CR 90 controlled by the County has no such guardrails. Grenfel Road is flat in this area and cars are slowing down for the stop and easily in control. No vehicle has ever gone into this ditch near this point. By the way, they had to redo this new installation as the St Catharine’s firm installed the rails blocking one resident’s access to a field and another resident’s access to his shed.  I wonder who paid to correct that design flaw? I agree with due diligence but let’s be sensible. As a councillor I would want proof that some of these projects are needed and insist more justification be included in their reports. Too much dependence is placed on the consultants’ opinions, and they are in the business of creating projects as there are more fees for design and engineering once approved. It is staff and council that should be investigating what is really needed before making a decision. 

Just so you know your property taxes are increasing just over 2% in 2013 but your actual increase will be dependent on how much your property assessment increased. So you might be paying 7% more depending where you live as some properties increase in assessment value up to 5% a year. For those on Water and Sewer the increases will continue at about 4.3% or more and the report last week now suggests that we are in a 31% deficit position for the Water portion of reserves. What is frightening is this is being brought to light after a couple of years of the plan being launched to correct it.

The reason seems to be that finance underestimated the use by home owners and the consumption is down resulting on lower revenues. When I queried the possibility of the Township being forced to increase the Water portion to as much as 10% to get back on track, the Mayor said that this council would not invoke such increases but would borrow more money instead. We have become intoxicated with low interest rates. If interest increased to 8%, our portion of the property tax to pay the interest cost could end up being 30 or 40 percent of your assessment dollar because of this council borrowing for the next generation. The council needs to do a sanity check and find ways of saving money. I believe if done properly and each line item in the budget investigated meticulously, as business owners do, over a million dollars could easily be carved from our budget with no negative impact on services levels. 

On another note here is something that boggles my mind about this council’s thinking. It is the change in the frequency of Council Meetings from December of this year to March of next year. Even though Councillors complain from time to time about the length of the meetings which are twice a month and too much to read, in their collective wisdom they are now only going to meet once a month. How does that make sense? I had been impressed in the Fall when they in fact added a General Committee meeting prior to the Council Meetings to discuss the matters more openly and in detail. That was a concept I tabled during the last election as it works well in a number of municipalities. It made sense as they were acknowledging that they cannot do an effective job unless there is more dialogue and discussion on matters affecting the residents.

Now to reduce the meetings as an experiment is ridiculous. I wonder if there is someone on council that is going to Florida for three months. If the councillors are not up to taking the time to deal with the township’s business for any reason, they should resign as did the councillor in Barrie last Summer. I suggest you contact our elected officials and find out where they will be until March.

I do believe all of those on council are for the most part honest, sincere and have an interest in doing what is good for Springwater but without visionary leadership, the township will continue to just progress with inertia rather than thoughtful planning. It is like having good players on a team but a poor manager or coach. I can only ask you to pay more attention to what council is doing, attend a few council or planning meetings and be better prepared to choose a leadership in two years that will create the municipality that we all want. If you do not engage you will get what you deserve, higher taxes, urban sprawl and the destruction of Springwater’s enviable lifestyle

Bill French

For more info follow my blog http://springwatercitizens.blogspot.com or visit www.billfrench.ca