By Cecilia Nasmith Northumberland 89.7/Today’s Northumberland
Looking at managing and perhaps reducing costs, Northumberland County council heard at Thursday’s special meeting that half of their tax levy can be accounted for by downloads made from the province more than 20 years ago.
The discussion arose when Councillor Mandy Martin pointed out costs to lower-tier municipalities that are incurred when Highway 401 is shut due to weather, accident or other emergency, draining resources from these small municipalities that the province will not be reimbursing.
It’s all fallout from the massive provincial downloading of more than 20 years ago, Martin said, terming it inequitable and unjustifiable.
“We are being financially screwed every day by this relationship. This financial equation needs to be addressed,” she declared.
“It’s a conversation we need to have,” Warden Brian Ostrander agreed, noting that the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs had met last week with the Transportation Minister to point out that fire departments are not being compensated at an appropriate level when they have to respond to incidents on the 401.
“Every time we deploy on the 401, we are not being compensated at a level it’s costing some our rural taxpayers. The same is true of paramedics,” Ostrander noted.
Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Moore said that a costing of the downloads had been undertaken at the turn of the century, when Premier Mike Harris began implementing them. Downloads included roads, social services such as welfare and 50% of paramedic costs.
“It’s probably five or six years since we calculated, but about half our levy has funded those services historically,” Moore said.
“Over the years, about half our levy is going to former provincial services. That does not reflect impacts on member municipalities,” she added, listing things like the diverted Highway 401 traffic.
Council passed a motion to have staff prepare a report for a future meeting on programs and services downloaded from the province that have affected both the county and the lower-tier municipalities – including costs associated with services and infrastructure related to Highway 401, as well as the health unit, ambulance costs, the local Ontario Health Team, Community Care.
The warden was also directed to bring this report to a future meeting of the Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus to appeal to these other municipalities to undertake a similar exercise in the interests or perhaps advocating to the province for some more equitable arrangement.
